3 Things I Learned from Kinetic Sand

Hello there =)

I ventured up to my soon-to-be craft room one night to do some much needed organizing. Naturally, I grabbed the nearest distraction and sat down to procrastinate. Current distraction of choice: kinetic sand.

You know the stuff; sand that is mold-able without water and never dries out. Claims to never make a mess and clean up is a snap. Yet, it’s forever stuck under my nails… It’s the present you bring to a toddler’s birthday party because it’s fun to play with while you’re there then you never have to deal with it again.

Yeah, I’m the aunt kids love and moms hate ;)

Craft and and fancy techy stores, like Brookstone, have it sitting out for you to play with. You get hooked, you see the price, sigh in defeat and contemplate pocketing some of the demo sand. Don’t lie, you know you thought about it. I’m sure you can find a DIY version on Pinterest.

Kinetic sand came into my life via a 70% off sale at Michael’s. And when something you don’t need is on sale for 70% off, you buy two. Am I right?

[Tweet “When something you don’t need is on sale for 70% off, you buy two.”]

So here I am, playing with sand, staring at a big mess in front of me. The room, not the sand. The sand never makes a mess and clean up is a snap. Remember? At this rate, this craft room is never going to get finished… Squishing the sand and making spheres. Poking at it and letting it break apart. Watching it melt back into the container precariously balanced on my lap.

And then… calmness. Clarity.

Life is a bunch of bits & pieces that come together.

Each little grain of sand represents a piece of me. My past, my present, my future. The glue (or whatever is keeping the sand together) is the essence that keeps my life in check; keeps me whole. Whether that is my soul, sanity or spirituality, there’s one key ingredient keeping me together.

I’m still deciding which one it is.

All those pieces find each other and build one beautiful life, one beautiful person. They must stay together otherwise they’re just a piece of dirt that’s easily brushed away.

We need all our pieces, all of our sand, to be complete. Tweet that.

Breaking doesn’t mean broken

I gathered all of the sand into a ball, packed it as tight as I could and placed it ever so gently back in its container. Within a few seconds, cracks formed at its base, split up the middle and it began to fall apart. It broke into large chunks quickly then each piece slowly melted away.

The larger the ball I made the more severe the breaking looked. Just the slight pressure from my fingertips holding it and placing it back in the container was enough to cause it to break.

You dream. You set goals. You do too much. You second guess yourself. You get overwhelmed. You break… but you’re not broken.

You will be OK.

The more stress you put yourself under, the worse the break looks and feels.

I don’t think we “break” just because we’re under pressure. I think we break because we’ve allowed ourselves to pile so much on ourselves over time. We’ve packed our metaphorical sand too tightly. It’s just easier to blame our cracks on too much pressure rather than our inability (or confidence) to say no or let go of things.

Now, the sand falls apart no matter what. It’s how it’s made. But it’s not so much breaking as it is going back to its natural, relaxed state. The sand is not meant to be packed into a ball at all times. All of it’s bits & pieces don’t need to be touching each other at once to exist.

We need to find that natural, relaxed state in our own lives. Once we find it, we need to be comfortable in it and OWN IT! Know who you are, live your life but understand that you don’t have to be everything all the time.

Get Rid of Your Container

The sand is only bound by the container that it’s stored in. The more room it has the more it spreads out.

I am only bound by the container I place myself in. Limits are my container. I need to free myself of limiting thoughts and actions.

Be free. Spread out. Be the “no mess, easy to pick up” sand that moms are cursing. Tweet that.

I now keep my sand container within easy reach and home and a small container of it at the day job. It’s been dubbed my therapy sand. Playing with it helps me calm down and feel that clarity again.

What seemingly ordinary item has taught you life lessons?