That’s a modified line of a poem that a friend of a friend of mine from uni days wrote. (Originally, it was ‘Because every new friend is a chance to reinvent yourself a little...’.) I’ve been thinking about it lately, because I’ve recently moved into a new house. While I still love my parents to bits, living with them again was slowly turning me back into my eighteen-year-old-self, which is not a great place to be in your mid twenties. So I’ve moved into a sharehouse with a friend from church. It’s been pretty awesome, but there are always little personality quirks that you only find out about someone after moving in with them. As far as it goes, my housemate is pretty awesome, and I’m hoping that writing out her annoying traits will help me to realise how small and insignificant they are. Here goes...
Things that slightly annoy me about my housemate:
1) She often listens to commercial radio. I would describe my taste in music as broad and eclectic. I enjoy listening to classical music, jazz, and indie music. Commercial radio, with the same mix of songs every day, inane presenters and constant advertising drives me up the wall.
2) We have very different tastes in food. If I only have 15 minutes for lunch, I’ll probably knock up a quick sandwich, or go hunting in the fridge for leftovers, and grab a piece of fruit. She’s more likely to polish off a packet of savoury biscuits, and has barely touched the well-stocked fruit bowl since we moved in. (See, it’s really petty, and not a big deal, but it annoys me!) I’m also of the opinion that most meals are made better by the addition of one or more of avocado, olives, sundried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and various curry spices. All of which are foods that she doesn’t like. To the point of picking them out of her meals, rather than just grinning and bearing with it.
3) We have differing opinions on how long dishes should be left before washing. Which usually results in either the sink crawling with ants, or me doing the vast majority of the dishes. Sometimes both. Same goes for sweeping, vacuuming, weeding and making sure the bathroom sink isn’t too mouldy.
4) She insists on hanging up the shower mat folded, which does look neater, but also means that it never dries properly.
5) She’s much more sociable than I am. One of my friends has recently moved away to go to uni, and I was going to have her around for a casual afternoon tea. Housemate got wind of my plan, and decided to invite most of the girls from church around for a tea party (for which I ended up doing the majority of the preparation.)
None of these qualities are deal breakers. And I haven’t mentioned this girl’s generosity of spirit, or her sense of fun, or the way that we encourage each other in our Christian walk or everyday life. And her relaxed nature and sociability are probably qualities that I should encourage in myself.
So I am being reinvented (a little) by my experience of living with this girl, even if it is just gaining patience in the little things that don’t matter. As the saying goes:
Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things
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