The Bummer-ness of Mixture

"... let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."   ... Matthew 5:16

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So did you watch that Time Warp Wives documentary yet? If so, did you notice how Joanne Massey's kitchen screamed 1950's?

I loved that.

Now, do any of my own rooms scream 1950's? Nah, not even close, although I wish they did.

But I do have vintage corners. Retro vignettes.

Over here, maybe over there, pieces from the Past.

But mostly? Come visit me and you'll see just a retro corner here, a vintage doo-dad there. 

Why doesn't my own house scream 1950's (or 40's or 30's, my favorite decorating decades)? I have too much mixture. A 1980's entertainment center here, a 1940's painting there, a 1990's set of curtains over here, a 2000's fake leather, falling-apart sofa there. And when you've got too much mixture? You've got a blur and nothing stands out, no clear statements are made.

It's the same with mixture in our lives: Treating our friends like gold dust, but our family like dirt. Speaking sweetly at church, swearing at Facebook. Teaching our children to forgive, but holding onto our personal grudges another 10 years. Speaking of faith, but worrying about money or our kids. Yeah, mixture like that.

Now, balance is good:

A harmonious or satisfying arrangement or proportion of parts or elements, as in a design. 

An influence or force tending to produce equilibrium; counterpoise.

(Oh, counterpoise! What a pretty word.)

 But mixture? Not so much. Mixture--a little Jesus and a little sin or laziness--leads to places where the lines went all hazy or even got erased. A place where folks race around in circles, arriving nowhere special, standing for no clear thing, making no great changes to this old, sorry world.

And who wants to go there?

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"A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—

 

and poverty will come on you like a thief

    and scarcity like an armed man."   ... Proverbs 24:33,34

 

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Life, Love and Vintage Housekeeping is a pure delight so far, just the kind of book I wanted to write while I was a young mom, but couldn't because I'm not that talented and I wasn't able to write about my life in such an enchanting way. But at least now, all these decades later, I have Allison's book.