What Messy Closets in Your Life Keep You From Feeling Greater Peace?

Where did the idea for Cultured Kids come from?

If someone asked me this question a year ago I would have shared the story of our founding in 2015: Cultured Kids was birthed from a desire to provide my own children a global perspective and out of a discovery that other parents, local to us, were eager to do the same.

However, a recent procrastination project led me to a surprise discovery that showed the idea for Cultured Kids could have been a decade older than I thought.

COVID Closet Project

My awesome walk-in closet WAS a shit-show!

It was a home for clothes and shoes, but also for clothes my children had outgrown, overflow books and office supplies, my husband's exorbitant number of socks (he says this is how he shows his style), luggage, and an abundance of yoga mats I hardly use.

For some reason, this closet became a metaphor for my life. The level of disorder that has come from COVID: legit homeschooling my TWO children, managing a home, running a non-profit, and trying to be a good wife, has kept me from feeling accomplished.

I was convinced that creating order in my closet would be a catalyst for order in my life, so began the two-week procrastination project.

The Discovery

One week into my procrastination project, my closet was empty and clean but the contents of my closet engulfed my bedroom like a ravenous infection. It was time to reorganize and re-shelve.

While sifting through a bin of old papers I found a portfolio that included a Teaching Philosophy I created in 2005. At this time I was pursuing K-12 Art Education positions in Western, MA.

I took a moment to read what my 26-year-old self wrote as a Teaching Philosophy. The first paragraph reads as follows:

Facts and knowledge are only the start to what a child should gain while attending school. Each student should leave school with a greater sense of society & culture and their ability to function within it. They should be able to interact with their peers and co-workers who maintain different world-views than their own. They should learn what it means to count on others and to be a part of a team. They should know that no matter where they come from or what experiences they have had, they are just as important as any other individual.

The Revelation

There may not be anything inherently remarkable about the beginning of this Teaching Philosophy. However, the significance of the message I wanted to convey back then compared to the message Cultured Kids is conveying now is worth celebrating. I have unknowingly and unconsciously, carried this message within me consistently over time. I fully believe it is just a part of who I am and a message I have always been meant to share.

Looking Ahead

My closet was eventually put back in order and now serves as a place of solace for me in a home, that quite honestly, is in a constant state of disorder. While my closet may no longer be a shit-show, sometimes life still seems to be. 

We all have closets, whether literal or metaphorical that need to be addressed. We can ignore them, and may even find success without ever addressing them. However, in doing so you may be passing up a reminder of who you are, what you are working towards, created for, or just a greater sense of accomplishment and peace.