Just before Christmas, in a list of Puttery Treats for December, I do believe I urged you to clear out your Comfort Drawer...
* Clear out your Comfort Drawer! It is Christmas and thus the season when all kinds of comforting nonsense will be bestowed upon you so I rather think it is time to indulge yourself with all the little pampering treats you have stashed since our Darling Sarah Ban Breathnach first suggested it in Simple Abundance. Empty the drawer and run a bubble bath. Eat that gorgeous chilli and lime chocolate you were saving for a rainy day and light the candle you usually save to burn on the days when somebody put your head on upside down. The little book you have always kept in your comfort drawer? Put it back on the shelf. It is time to find a new reassuring voice. Same with the cd's and the dvd's. Even comfort gets old. Spend December smothering yourself in the cosy and come January we can start scrumptiously afresh...
and now, in just the blink of kohl-smudged eye, January is upon us and it is time to get busy!
A little book designed to make you feel special on the days you feel a bit rubbish. A little book that makes you feel special because some days you just plain old forget that you really are...
and now, in just the blink of kohl-smudged eye, January is upon us and it is time to get busy!
It has been over ten years since Simple Abundance was published and if like me you were scrumptiously seduced by the very idea of a Comfort Drawer way back then, you have probably nurtured that little private space for all these years, shuffling your little comforts around, adding tiny little bits of this and that each Christmas and occasionally forgetting there is a little bit of cozy heaven waiting for you at all...
So how about we start again? How about we take everything out, fill it full of loveliness and make it a habit to keep it stocked with the kind of teeny tokens of comfort we can learn to rely upon when our days seems greyer than they should?
1. Take out everything already living inside your Comfort Drawer and (this is important!) put them away. Carry soap to the bathroom, chocolate to the kitchen and books back to the shelves. We need a clean slate and we won't have that if we fall back on old comforts...
2. Clean out the drawer, then wipe around the inside with a cloth spritzed with your favourite scent or aromatherapy oil.
3. Now line the drawer with something really pretty. There isn't any hurry so take your time seeking out the perfect drawer liner or length of vintage wallpaper. This is your very own little cozy corner of the universe and you want it to be heart-stoppingly pretty...
4. Now you can start to fill your little space. The purpose of the Comfort Drawer in my eyes, is to have a place where you can keep all those things that make you feel special: the things you seek out when you are exhausted or sad: the little bits of luxury that make you feel pampered when the whole world feels dull. Memories that are like a hug...
Ideas?
Violet Lavender Water for your very own pillowcase. A ribbon-tied clutch of love-letters from your partner. Dark chocolate studded with lavender. A silk handkerchief for really sad days. A CD that reminds you of being sixteen. The perfume your Nana wore. Mrs Miniver. A hot water bottle. A packet of Dead Sea Salt for relaxing baths. Your baby's first little lock of hair. Rescue Remedy. A tiny photograph album stuffed full of your family's most precious moments.Pillow Spray. A packet of tea-biscuits you don't want anyone else to steal. Crab Apple Flower Remedy (for when you can barely look at yourself...). A special scented candle. A little journal full of your favourite quotes. Valerian tea for sleepless nights. Pretty notelets for heartfelt letters. A DVD that always makes you smile. Posh toothpaste (yes really!). An emergency tin of Heinz Tomato soup. A pashmina to wrap yourself up in. Violet pastilles. Gourmet hot chocolate (strictly for grown ups). A book of comforting prayers. Peppermint tea for bloaty tummy days. A Short Guide To A Happy Life, etc, etc....
And a Project...
Create a Wonderful Me Journal to live in your Comfort Drawer. Seek out the prettiest journal you can find and decorate or collage it to your hearts delight. Paste in photographs of you looking your best. Thank-you notes from those who appreciate you. Print-outs of email and blog comments that made your day. Images of the things you make Love notes from your children. Cards that really mattered. Copies of certificates of achievements. Those little post-it notes your partner sticks on your pillow- in short anything that says "You are great!", "How clever are you!", "You made my day!", "You are shaping my world" or simply "I love you..."
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8 comments:
Well, my dear. How long ago has it been since we met as friends... and this, just the puttery post you are known for. I really LOVE being on the Puttery Treats mailing list. I don't have a comfort drawer here at Mom's where I am staying all the time, so this post struck a happy remembrance of my early days with Sara!!!!! I believe no time like the present to come back to Simple Abundance, no matter where I lie down at night... Hugs to my very first blog-writer extraordinaire and sweetest friend on the other side o' the "pond."
Such a lovely comfort. After a few more errands and chores, into which I will now add bubble bath, chocolate and a scented candle, I am going to come home, and have a long delicious, luxurious bath. So there, world! Take that! Thank you, Alison. Well timed.
I'm in love with the idea of a comfort drawer. And I'm curious to know what kinds of things others have put in their drawers?
All these hundreds of posts of yours that I've read and I have never had a Comfort Drawer of my very own...can you believe it? Time to make it happen I think. I may have to buy a small drawer shaped box to stick in the back of my closet as I'm not certain there are any free drawers in the house but...hey...you do what you have to do. I'll post back when I have a list of what's in it for that previous poster who wondered.
I've never heard of a Comfort Drawer til now. What a nice idea. In my case though, it would have to be a comfort box rather than a drawer. I do hope that's acceptable. I like the idea of a Wonderful Me journal too. How great is it to be a teeny bit self-indulgent.
Ali
Alison, that journal idea is wonderful. It's nice to have somewhere to go on those days when we feel unloved and unappreciated!
I just picked up Simple Abundance again, last time I read it was about 3 years ago. I have been so busy with my four boys (and blinking facebook!) that I haven't ever done a comfort drawer for myself. Well this year I'm going to do one. Actually it might have to be a comfort basket, which will have to live on top of my wardrobe or it will definitely get raided by sticky little fingers! Thank you for you ideas, as I need some inspiration.
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