Happiness found in a tablecloth

Yesterday in my quest to minimize our house I ran across this tablecloth.  It was shoved into the back of the linen closet. It looks like embroidery done by a young child or someone just learning, but I know better.  It's a tablecloth done by my Grandma.  I was instantly sad.  It must be one of the last ones my Grandma made. To see her work go from beautiful to a mess made me tear up.  I wanted to throw it back into the closet and not deal with it or the emotions it invoked. I thought maybe I should throw it away. Looking at it made me sad.  One of the rules in my quest to minimize our house is to only keep the things your love or need. I definitely didn't love this piece.  I didn't want to just throw away something my Grandma made. I decided to put it back in the back of the closet.  I'd revisit it later. When Super Sexy Husband and I were getting ready for bed I pulled out the tablecloth to show him and told him how sad it made me.  I had so many questions about it. Did she know how bad it looked?  How frustrating was it to make?  Was she sad?  Why do it if it was so hard?  I started to cry just talking to him about it.  After writing in my journal before bed, I had an epiphany.  My grandmother loved to embroider.   She made anything you could ever imagine for everyone as gift.  Baby blankets for new moms, tablecloths for wedding gifts, sheets for us kids, pillowcases and fun things she framed.

Maybe it wasn't about what she couldn't do well anymore. Maybe it was something she made because embroidery made her happy.  It didn't have to be perfect.  Perfection isn't everything. I get hung up on perfection all the time.  I choose not to do things because I can't do it perfectly.  Even things I enjoy. Thank you Grandma for this little lesson you gave me yesterday.  You should always do something you love just because it makes you happy.  I'm keeping the tablecloth.  I'm not sure if I'm going to use it as a tablecloth, frame a piece of it or turn it into a blanket. What I do know is whatever I decide to do with it I'm going to smile every time I see it.  Happiness doesn't equal perfection.  Happiness is doing things you love.