Down in the Dumpster

I truly felt a bit down in the dumpster last week. Personally, I won’t say “down in the dumps” because that phrase is for those who are seriously depressed. Think about it. A dump is huge place where time after time after time, truckloads of garbage gets piled on top over and over again. If you are down in the dumps, life is just not going to get any better until you dig your way out of the continuous mountains of crap and make a break for it.

Being in the dumpster is a lot better. It is a smaller self contained place in which to feel dumped upon, but the garbage is usually bagged up, so one can merely toss it back out again if needs be. Once in awhile a big load comes down on top of you, which is what happened to me. Within a short span of time (the walls of my dumpster), I had several big jumbo bags of stuff to deal with. The nice part of dumpster sized downers is that each bag can be opened and searched for the hidden treasures one needs to build a pile high enough in which to climb out of the stink.

I knew the bags were coming at me, so I pressed my calendar coat and made a plan. Plans are great until somebody has one and it messes up yours. (You know that phrase “plan ahead”, forget it, I say “plan first” before somebody else does!). Over the course of the week, my calendar coat got wrinkled several times and a stain will remain from an exceptionally leaky bag (must have been a bargain brand) but at least the banging open of the lid each time gave me fair warning to seek cover under the already piled up name brand bags. (Another Nobel Prize to the guy who put the self enclosed handles on a trash bag.)

So what kind of riches did I find? Well….. little treasures pulled from the trash are different for everybody. In my case, I got to meet some new people whom I had known by name only. I got to spend some time with people I only see once a year. I was able to spend time with people I only knew a little bit, and got to know them better. I shared a few hours with people I have known a long time and work towards a common goal and finally, I got done what needed to be done with the help of willing people. My gems, my stairs out of the dumpster this past week, were all people. For many of you “people person” types, I can hear the “so what” out there, but I am a loner by nature. Maybe because I am used to a solo studio situation, this past week of meetings and events and required activities is what dropped me into the dumpsters in the first place.

Another week is upon me now and I can sense another round of dumpster diving fast approaching. However, each morning when I pass my official prayer spot, I will consider myself blessed and give thanks to (insert your higher being of choice here so as not to offend…) to have found other trashy people like me who, without knowing it at all, pulled me out of the dumpster once, and may be called upon to do it again.