real life doesn’t match (itty bitty thoughts)

real life doesn’t match (itty bitty thoughts)

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I visited with my grandma a few days ago. Now that’s grandpa is gone, she’s starting to go through her house and get rid of things. She’d started quite a pile of things for me to take—waffle iron, wok, tupperware, wool blankets, utility knife blades, large mixing bowls. 

“Hey,” she said. “Do you need a big rug?”

Actually, we did. There is no carpet in our house and our living room rug had recently been destroyed by a dog. Winter is coming, and that floor is gonna be cold.

“Yeah, I’ll take it.”

“Well, what color is your living room?”

People have colors in their living room, I guess. 

“Grandma, I’ll take the rug.”

“But it’s blue and white. Will it match?”

“I don’t care if it matches, Grandma. It’s a rug.”

She smiled because she loves my fiestiness (some of it comes directly from her) and then pointed me to the rug rolled up in the corner so I can load that in my vehicle, too.

What color is my living room?

My living room walls are a sorta of  butterscotch color. The furniture—all on its last legs—is army green, although I’m sure there’s a designer word for that particular shade. And because I’ve always believed that everyone should have a blankie to wrap up in, there are blankets on all the furniture. The blankets are all various colors. Patchwork and plaid and all sorts of things.

And now there is a giant rug in the middle of the floor made of rings of blue and white.

My living room doesn't match, but let's be honest -- neither does most of my life. Here are today's thoughts on why that's perfectly okay.

Nothing in my living room matches.

But that kind of describes my life, too.

I have friends who are alcoholics and friends who don’t drink.

I have friends who are pagan, christians, and atheists.

I enjoy bluegrass and I enjoy industrial metal.

I have gal pals who wear skirts because “that’s what women do” and I have gal pals who are married to gals.

And none of these things match—but they all fit because they make up the many facets of me.

Me. The gal who is mostly a dork but can also keep it together long enough for a fancy event.

Me. The gal who sometimes wants to head to the range to blow everything up and sometimes just wants to sit in the grass and meditate.

Me. The gal who isn’t sure if she wants to lead a small revolution or just disappear forever into the deep woods.

My life does not match.

But I think that’s okay. If it doesn’t have to immediately match, a person is allowed the freedom to explore the depth of who they really are.

If it doesn’t have to match, we can explore all the colors and all the things.

And if it doesn’t have to match, we aren’t forced to automatically and immediately exclude options on the basis that they aren’t the right shade of gray to fit in our head. 

   — Amy Dingmann 9-24-20

My living room doesn't match, but let's be honest -- neither does most of my life. Here are today's thoughts on why that's perfectly okay.



19 thoughts on “real life doesn’t match (itty bitty thoughts)”

  • I think the rug goes perfectly in your living room—I love that shade of yellow on your walls! What a special reminder of your grandmother. 🙂

  • Who decided on the rules of what matches anyway?
    I run in similar hodgepodge circles in my life.
    The perfect match is a nice balance of variety.
    Variety is the spice of life. FTW!

  • Looks fine. Might not make BH&G but none of those are not real anyway. No curtains? Just thinking about chilly Winter winds there.

    • I love the light so I’ve never liked curtains, but it’s actually one of those things I know would be more helpful in the cold of winter (and the heat of summer). Oh, and it would also keep the dogs from knowing there is someone on the road that they need to bark incessantly at. (ha!)

  • Love your living room. We don’t play the matchy game either, just go for comfort and utility. A lot of the things throughout our home are things from the homes of elderly relatives that have passed on.

  • Yes! This describes my life as well. Our mismatched friends, furnishings, beliefs…all come together to make us the person that we are.

  • That’s how we roll over here. I’m not sure any furniture we have we bought on our own. I have blankets on the couch, because dogs and kids, and blankets to wrap up in. I have no curtains because I like the light and I live surrounded by woods and no one better be looking into my house anyways.
    I just visited my grandpa yesterday. My grandma recently passed and he’s been giving away some things, too. The things he gave me yesterday I can’t put on display. They’re safely stored in the safe! 😉

      • I just listed to two podcasts in a row. 1. Not being a slave and go for it. Thank you. 2. My life doesn’t match either. I have had my hands in so many things. I deactivated my fb a couple of weeks ago. As soon as someone sent a fb messenger to me. It re-activated. Kindred spirits in attitude, fiestiness and free spirit. Janeen Null (Thomas) Benicia, (where the ducks are in N. Calif. ) also a WannBe beekeeper and have a simpler kind of life. I am housesitting hanging out with chickens and taking care of plants for my neighbors smallish farmhouse.

        • Interesting! I didn’t know that messenger was still available if you deactivated your account. Hmmm. Glad you were able to check out the podcast! Sounds like we are similar in attitude, feistiness, and free spirit. 😉

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