That is not a Coffee Table

It’s 10:30 pm on January 5th. I’m laying on the sofa doom-scrolling when I notice the time. “We should probably go to bed”, I say just loud enough for my husband to hear me in the other room. I hear him start to rummage around, putting away whatever he was doing. As I wait for him, I stare at the coffee table. It’s piled with a variety of holiday debris. A couple gadgets that I received as presents for Christmas. An unopened build-it-yourself pinball table that was gifted to my husband. A bundle of objects from my parents house that they no longer wanted after I helped them repaint their living space. A grocery bag that once contained the snacks we ate on New Years eve.

As he entered, I pointed to the table and said “that’s not a coffee table.” he looked at me quizzically. “It’s an I’ll-deal-with-it-later-table” I clarified. “That’s why I don’t like coffee tables, they just become a place for clutter to collect” he retorted.

I think every house needs a place like that though. A place to put things that you just don’t have the time or energy to deal with. Of course, you shouldn’t let them sit for too long, or they risk becoming part of the decor. The car radio I was putting off fixing nearly did just that. It was, of course, sitting on the coffee table for a few months too long. But for a hectic time like the holiday season, I find I really need a place to put things that I just don’t want to deal with at the moment. It needs to be a place visible enough that I don’t forget about them completely but still not in the way of anything. Our coffee table happens to be that perfect middle ground.

I tend to get into a kind of funk at the tail end of the holidays. I’ve had my fun and leisure time, but I’m starting to feel aimless. I know I need to start DOING again, but I haven’t quite gotten to the point where my eagerness to get going has overcome my lethargy. I think I’m finally to that point now. Tomorrow’s a new day. A new week has started. A new year. It’s not technically the first week of the year, but it’s the first that feels meaningful. The first that I feel like I can actually get started on everything I have planned.

So I guess I’ll be cleaning up the pile of stuff tomorrow. And maybe I’ll be able to put my coffee down on that table for the first time this year. Strange how the sixth day feels like the actual start of the new year.