Moving towards the Beauty

 I had a bit of an epiphany the other day. My wife and I own a ton of wine glasses, some obtained as wedding presents, gifts, others bought to "furnish" our vacation home, and so forth. We also have a gorgeous set of hand blown glasses that we bought in Murano, Italy, that we drag out when we have company. 

While moving all of our belongings to our temporary apartment the other day, I decided, "Life is too short to not enjoy the beautiful things we own. I am getting rid of all the mundane wine glasses, and we'll just start using the Murano glasses, instead of mostly letting them be decorations in our kitchen."

I also have a very lovely hand-made cutting board that has served as a wall hanging in my kitchen, and I decided a day or so later that I should just start using and enjoying it for the purpose it was created and get rid of the stupid disposable plastic cutting boards that I had been using up to this time. Why not enjoy the visual esthetics of a beloved possession every time I slice and dice?

Over the years, we have also acquired a ton of cheap, bulk kitchen towels. In the last five years or so, however, we have either been gifted or have purchased a number of hand-woven cotton towels that are both pleasant to look at, and extremely absorbent. Trying to use the cheap towels for greasy messes, or those that might leave stains on the cloth, while enjoying the others for less damaging cleanup chores.

I'm about to the point of doing the same thing with a couple of my chef's knives that I usually keep hidden away, a wonderful Kramer Damascus steel one, and a hand-made knife from a local Oregon craftsman. Usually, I just pick up the old utilitarian Victorinox or the Chicago Cutlery knife we got as a wedding present 40 years ago, but I think it's time to really experience everyday life with a luxurious, high-end knife. With knives, it's a little tougher choice, since I also have a great set of "workhorse" German made knives I used to use in my restaurant.

As I continue to unpack, I think I am likely to keep winnowing out the chaff, and only hang on to those things which, as Marie Kondo says, "bring pleasure".