A few years ago, I received an unusual housewarming gift.  It was wrapped within a tastefully crafted large gift bag. Inside, the bag was filled with solid, dark mahogany stained wood hangers.  They were beautiful, but I was a tad perplexed. I had plenty of hangers...all sorts; wire rimmed hangers, clear plastic hangers from clothes bought at the store, padded hangers, solid plastic hangers, paper covered hangers from the dry cleaners & even some wooden hangers...

My friend politely explained her gift.  She said, "Lola, you have moved into such a beautiful home.  Everything in your home seems to match your gracious decor.  Except, when you took our coats to hang them, I noticed that the hangers in your closet didn't match your house.  So, I bought you some new hangers."

I really hadn't paid much attention to my hangers; after all, they were hidden in my closet and glimpsed only for a few moments when I took one out to hang a coat.  But, the principle behind the gift got me to thinking...how many mis-matched items were still hanging around in my life even as I had moved on? 

In fact, most of the hangers in my closet were simply items that I had randomly collected from a variety of sources. As long as they hung clothes, who cared what they looked like. But upon reflection, I had to admit, some of them did a much better job of preserving my clothes than others.  In fact, some of the hangers actually ended up mis-shaping garments that were placed on them.

I'm thinking about how this relates to life.  How often do we continue to 'carry around' all sorts of things and people contacts which are no longer active or vibrant in our lives?  To what extent are we filling the closets of our lives with issues that no longer resonate with the direction in which we desire to move? 

Hanger picture is courtesy of aldrin muya's photostream on flickr.

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