It's all in a name...

Just yesterday I saw a boat with the name “Pandora” lettered across the stern.

Instantly I was reminded of a childhood story about “Pandora’s Box”, based on

 the myth of Pandora's creation referenced around line 60 of Hesiod's Works and Days. Let’s not get stopped here!

                            

This particular time of our calendar year, specifically Thanksgiving and leading on to Christmas festivities and New Year’s wrap-ups,   presents social situations which may be unsettling (or worse) for both individual family members and families as a whole.

How often have we heard, or perhaps even thought it ourselves, “I hope they don’t ask me to go there because I can’t stand being in the same place as him/her/them”. If the husband says this aloud, of his partner’s traditional invitation, storm clouds will grey their thinking. If she says this about her partner’s side there might be a flare up of childish defensiveness and a mother-in-law who takes it all too personally! You get the idea…

In this complicated world where everyone is doing a juggling act and trying to keep everything in balance, instead of opening our own Pandora’s Box maybe we could try compartmentalizing. Someone once counselled me to simply “Simplify” - break up the collection of “stuff” and create a little room in my mind where everything can be stored in its own place.

This technique is not too difficult to put into practice – when you hold the key to opening each room when and if required you will sleep better, feel more balanced, and have control over the daily ups and downs that can feel overwhelming.

If family members, as an example, and their individual counterparts seem to create impatience and apprehension – put that group in its own “room” and don’t leave the door ajar.

My own efforts to simplify are an ongoing project for sure, but compartmentalizing the contents of Pandora’s Box does seem to be helpful.