Repurposing ….creating a new purpose from anything that one has deemed as trash. Everyone, everywhere is finding a new reason to repurpose trash. Calling it from Trash to Treasures. Some do it out of love for the earth. One less item in the landfill is one step closer to keeping the earth safe and green. Other do it to save money. Why pay for something new when there are perfectly good things to transform or use from another’s trash. Some call it art. Using their creative imagination, they turn garbage into amazing masterpieces. It is definitely a talent for others. Works of art to display proudly in their home, garden, yard or even in galleries. But one of the biggest reasons for repurposing today is because it is a hot, new trend. Everyone is just soaking it in. It is one of the biggest businesses out there. Using discarded items to make a buck or two. People are opening up little shops in their garages and sheds out in the country. Storefronts in town. Selling online. Creating auctions. They blog about it. They tweet about it. They have fancy websites to market it. Facebook pages to like. They offer how to classes on weekends. Turning all kinds of discarded items into beautiful purposeful items that the world will oooo and ahhhh about. They show endless ideas on fabrics and covering, paints and stains, waxes and oils. Everything you want to learn about transforming garbage is only a click away thanks to the internet. I have to admit, I too, have fallen in lust with all this junk. I started many years ago (not saying how many, as to keep my age hidden) finding things to transform. In high school, I aspired to be involved in the fashion world. I scoured over magazines looking at trends, then heading to the local thrift shop to find tossed aside clothing to transform into “runway” magic. I was born an only child and given a princess life. My parents would just look at my creations and shake their heads, wondering what had gone wrong for me to want to dress like this. At the age of 20 I bought my first home. My very own space to rip, remodel, add, delete, paint, create and decorate. Soon I married and had children and my life suddenly changed from Cinderella he princess to cinderella the floor scrubber. Let’s be honest, not my best choice but out of all the sorrow and hardships I gained 2 beautiful children that make me proud today. I could no longer afford to do the remodeling I desired. I longed to create wonderful spaces with beautiful things. I wanted to be different. So, I started collecting (or hoarding, as my husband calls it today). Thinking as I gathered each piece, one day this will be beautiful, then putting it in te shed. As my kids grew, time got scarce with the busy schedules and the money became even more scarce. After almost 20 years of marriage, collecting and hoarding…. I divorced. I needed time to heal myself and find my identity again. All my passions had slowly been drained away from my soul. I did not find pleasure or joy in much of anything. To smile was hard…well at least mean something. Most of my happiness lived in my shed. Slowly things improved. I started to feel alive and wanted to find my spirit I use to have. I started to look at what I had allowed myself to become and didn’t like it. On went the thinking cap and the creative juices started to flow. Everywhere, the kitchen, living room, bedroom, walls, floors, cupboards, yard, garden and clothes. One by one I started to take from my shed and create unique items for my place. I was back into the land of living and loving. At one point, my friends would joke that I could almost build a new house from all my “special” finds in the shed. I eventually moved across the country in a 5th wheel and was forced to leave my treasures behind….I said goodbye to the antiques, frames, galvanized buckets, metals, windows, doors, porcelain sinks and beautiful gardens. I started junking out here in Ontario soon after arriving with minimal items. At first, i was broken-hearted. Seeing all the items left behind that I would like to have once again, but this time having to pay much more for them. Now I look at junking as an adventure. Been there, had that, done that….now onto new, bigger and better creations. More than ever now I am able to take full advantage of my passions. Create with my heart and give my soul satisfaction and my spirit an uplifting. Try new things. Spread my wings and know that whatever I try..the good …the bad…the ugly…i made it and others out there will appreciate and love it too! I believe in me and all you Junkers and artists should too! Show off your wares and creativity, sparkle and magic, as now is the moment. The world is addicted to any and all repurposed items. Like a drug…we want it and need it and will do anything to get it. Everywhere we go, we see things and then thoughts flood our head and our hearts race wildly while we ponder up ideas of creation. We seek out blogs. We pin like crazy addicts going through withdrawal. On Facebook we like, like, like. We hunt down auctions, flea markets, thrift shops and yard sales, trying to attain that one score of the year. With glazed eyes, we do drive bys. Garbage days…late at night scouring the streets and dumpsters, in hopes of grabbing that one cast off item that no one lese has snatched up yet. With a crazed and determined look we quickly scope out the spot and stop. Quickly we try to figure out how to get it in the car and sneak it into the house without anyone noticing (especially our spouses). We hide things in closets, baskets, drawers, boxes, sheds and garages, or if like me…add it to the garden or yard in hopes of him not even noticing it till I can make what I really desire out of it! So in reality, we are addicts…junkies. All obsessing over discarded treasures. Soon J.A. (Junkers anonymous) will be holding yet another weekly meeting. Remember though, the first step to recovery is admittance and I shall be extremely proud to stand up and say…Hi I’m Tami, also known as Junkyjoey and I am a junkie!
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
joeyrocked 