Dear LPG.  

I recently read one of your articles by HR which, I believe, could do with a little expansion (►►►)..  I smiled as I read because I think that my flat is fairly up to standard but for one old armchair that I refuse to get rid of.  I truly feel and understand the comments on preserving such a bit of personal history, although I had my chair upholstered recently just to please my visitors so that I don’t have to listen to those little comments and hints that so often escape during such visits.  I understand exactly what HR is talking about when he mentioned that those comments can get on your nerves. I used to use it all the time and visitors seemed to observe the unwritten rule that they were welcome to sit in any other chair in my living room when they visited.   

It looks beautiful now, and since its makeover, it sits in exactly the same place it always has.  However, from the time of its upgrade, many of my visitors have remarked on the fact that I don’t use it as much as I always used to.   

It has been transformed and I had it done using the same material as my new curtains so it all fits in, but perhaps that is one of the problems.  It does not stand out anymore and even though the memories are all still hidden under its pristine exterior, it is just not the same.  

It looks perfect but in spite of all that, the members of my family now offer a new set of comments when they visit. I seem to have switched my chair of preference without even noticing, to the point that it is often the one unoccupied seat when I have a houseful these days.   

I understand that such habits are part of one’s subliminal sense of choice but even so, I have often wondered if I don’t use it so much because, while I know that the history is still under its new covering, it is just not the same.   

All the comments have taught me that, without even thinking about it I have changed my chair of preference and even moved the angle of my television so that my new chair of choice allows me a better view of it.  It is really odd that, in spite of all their comments and the fact that I am now aware of my changed sitting habit, even when I am alone, I continue to use my newly adopted seat rather than the older one.  I find myself seated before I realise all this.  

I have no intention of doing away with my newly refurbished chair but for some reason, even though I choose to plonk my posterior in the other one, I know that I am consciously doing that now, but why? 

I took a look online and learned that we do a lot of such things without analysing the reasons why.  I have become aware that I always gravitate to one particular seat when I attend the lunch club with my friends.  Most of us rarely choose new and untested products when we go shopping and there is a particular checkout that I nearly always go to. It takes a while for us to get used to new friends and many of us have our meals at the same time every day.  When cooking, though I have many saucepans in my cupboard, there are three that nearly always get used before any of the others and they are the well-worn ones in spite of the fact that I have so many newer ones.   

All this is just another way of saying that, while we do try new things, places and people, there is something about that consistency and routine which are really important parts of our lives and keep us sane to an extent.  The internet tells that the routine of having all those little things we do, and times that we do them, keep us grounded even though so many of them just happen without our actually realising.   

Life can be very odd…  

DN, Lee 

 

 

DN shares her internet findings…

 

 

 

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