My word for 2020 is ENOUGH.

It’s such a great word and realization. And it’s so versatile!

• I can use it while standing tall, with clenched fists and lots of exclamation points. “Enough of THAT!!!”
• I can use it when I remember to put Fear in the back seat. So I can get on with Life. “Enough, already.”
• I can use it when no matter how I try, things just don’t turn out as I planned or wanted. So I can allow a glimmer of grace to creep-in and flip my compassion switch ON. “:: deep sigh:: Enough.”
• I can also use it when God/The Universe/and Everything Good presents one of those gob-smacking moments of awe and love. “THIS is enough.”

Yesterday would have been Mom’s 95th birthday. Edna Jackson Bearnes was many things. Her foundational trait was organization. She was a book keeper by trade. She loved accrual accounts and systems. She also loved jewelry.

Her ‘good’ jewelry is safely organized in one of those stand-alone chests, complete with five drawers, two pull-out sides, and even some secret compartments. As long as she was able, she also kept her costume jewelry very well organized. Those pieces are now in baskets and boxes, just begging to be organized. So, this week, in honor of her 95th, I decided to organize two of those many baskets and boxes.

For me, untangling necklaces is one of those time-consuming, delicate, and devoted processes I always appreciate AFTER it’s done. Pairing-up Mom’s random everyday earrings took me down several lanes of remembering when I last saw her in each pair. Edna wasn’t a true believer of much, but she believed in accessorizing.

The whole process, of untangling and pairing-up took me down many rabbit holes. Most, I don’t need to go into here, but I did love finding those ‘mink’ earrings (top left in the bottom picture) complete with faces, that delighted and terrified me, as a child. And although Mom was not a Pepsi drinker, since she was someone who lived in New Bern, NC for decades (home of Pepsi), those Pepsi earrings (bottom right in the bottom picture), made me laugh.

Like most people I know, I still have plenty to untangle and pair-up from Mom’s life and in my own life. Organizing these two containers though, reminded me that it can be done. I might not untangle and pair-up EVERYTHING I hope to, but hey, I made a start, this week.

And that’s enough.

How have you witnessed or experienced enough, lately?