My dad saw my fridge and said 'that's not a mess, it's a puzzle with a dinner inside'

He pointed at my half jar of salsa, leftover chicken, and wilting cilantro and said 'you're one tortilla away from a meal' and now I can't look at my fridge the same way.

3 comments

3 Comments

oliver7193mo ago

Reminds me of how my grandma called leftovers "ingredients" instead of old food. She'd see a bit of stew and some dry bread and say we had the base for a new soup. It reframes a problem into a potential solution. I've started doing it with my closet, calling a pile of clothes a "capsule wardrobe waiting to happen." It tricks your brain into seeing possibility instead of just a mess.

phoenixa643mo ago

Honestly this works for my whole apartment. I see a stack of mail and think it's just clutter, but my friend called it a "paperwork buffet" and now I sort it while imagining a weird meal. Turns a boring chore into a game.

amybarnes2mo ago

Does anyone else find it helps to give the mess a name? I started calling my junk drawer the "hardware store of forgotten dreams." It made me actually sort the screws and batteries instead of slamming it shut. Now I see a half-finished project and call it a "future masterpiece in progress." Funny how a little rename tricks your brain into wanting to fix things. My closet went from "clothes pile" to "outfit laboratory" and suddenly I'm mixing stuff I never wore together.