Whenever my parents come to visit me from their small town, they like to check out estate sales. My dad will scour the classifieds and then like a leprechaun, map out a route leading to what he hopes is gold. I tag along, mostly because it amuses me to see what treasures my dad finds and just how much stuff he can fit into the back of his Buick. (I’ve seen him squeeze in a bookshelf, a chainsaw, and a pressure washer at the same time.)

The moral of this story is not that Buick’s have impeccable storage, but to say that life is simply too short to save your good perfume. Here’s why.

Life’s Too Short To Save Your Good Perfume

One sunny summer day, my dad mapped out what he proudly proclaimed was the perfect route. We’d start at a garage sale that promised plenty of tools, hit an estate sale around the corner, and then end at a multi-family yard sale. Normally my day is too busy to spend winnowing through dusty old items, but the twinkle in my dad’s eye and the prospect of some grade A entertainment drew me into his scheme. Besides, I like looking for old books—early editions of classics especially. 

But possibly my favorite thing about estate sales, (besides watching my dad haggle over the price of a VCR) is making up stories about the people who lived there. Who were they? What were they like when they were younger?

From a display of military medals on the wall, I envision the life of a war hero, brave and patriotic, writing love letter to his girl back home and then sweeping her off her feet in his uniform. A collection of porcelain plates from around the world tells me that this person was an adventurer, backpacking through France and visiting the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.

But this one really got me thinking…

That day when I stepped through the doors of this estate sale, I could immediately tell that the person who’d lived there was very precise. Neatly stacked cookbooks filled the kitchen shelves and manicured houseplants lined the windowsill like puppies waiting to be fed.

Estate sales are strange things. You step into the privacy of a stranger’s life with their whispers still echoing off the walls.

As my dad bee-lined toward the garage, I wandered into a room where I caught sight of a bookshelf. There was a feminine feel to the room—a floral quilt draped over the bed and lace doilies lying across a beautiful oak dresser. On top of the dresser was the most beautiful collection of designer perfume I had ever seen. Dior, Chanel, and Italian names I couldn’t pronounce. And each bottle was completely full.

These beautiful bottles must have dated back to the 1950s, which meant that they had been sitting here for over 60 years, untouched, unused.

I imagined the woman who owned them, pictured her quiet elegance and her careful class. What had kept her from using such exquisite perfume? Had they been a gift she was saving for a special occasion? Did she feel her daily life was too mundane to warrant  even a dab of such elegant perfume? What did she think she was saving it for?

It immediately made me sad. And it made me think of the things in my life I’m saving for a “better day.”

What are we saving for a “better day?”

Do we have things in our lives we are saving for a better day? Maybe they’re the expensive shoes you’d hate to get dirty, or a book so rare you wouldn’t dare crack the spine. Maybe we have china so pristine that no one can eat off it, or a jaw-dropping dress that is still waiting for the perfect occasion. 

Beautiful things waiting, collecting dust. 

I left that house that day with a new resolve. I was going to go home, put on my most expensive perfume, and do the laundry. And after that, I would reach up into tip-top of my closet, take out the designer shoes I’d never worn, and wear them to go get milk at Walmart. 

Life is too short to wait for a “better day” or a more deserving occasion. Each day that we wake up breathing, our hearts beating, and blood flowing from artery to organ—each day that we are alive is significant. 

Each day, even the most mundane, is deserving of our good perfume.

 

(All images via Unsplash.com)

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by Nicolette via Home And Garden