Monday, May 26, 2008

Carpet Tiles and Life

Lisbeth has been working all day laying carpet tiles. Apparently, you start in the middle and work outwards towards the walls. When you reach the edges, the tiles don't fit, so you have to cut them. This isn't as easy as you might think because you always fit a straight edge to a straight edge so you have to measure the bit you take off from the opposite side - if you see what I mean. According to Lisbeth, although it takes ages to do, it's very satisfying to cut odd shapes of carpet that then fit well into the odd-shaped spaces on the floor.

Now one could draw a parallel between carpet tiles and life. (You could!)

You are in control of your tiles of life and how you lay them. Starting in the middle, could be like putting the most important bits in first: family, work, friends, etc, moving on to fill the gaps with bits and bobs of other things that go to make up the whole floor of life. Somewhat like the 'bucket story': big things in first because you can't get them in after you've filled up with small stuff. And, by implication, the small things that are less important.

Once a room is complete, the theory is that if one or two get marked or damaged, you can replace them with others. Can we replace damaged life tiles? I'm sure you can. You just have to accept a more sort of patchwork effect, because new tiles will not necessarily blend in well with the older, more mature ones. But patchwork life is good, when you're older. That's how we get to be more interesting and have lots to talk about.

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