Junk drawers and mindfulness

Two things that stand out from all the other ideas in my mind this week are Junk drawers and Mindfulness. Somehow these words are very compatible.
My Mother was a teacher (a very dedicated one and creative one). One of the tasks she set my sister and I at the beginning of the school holidays was to tidy the Junk drawer.
Another one of her favourite distraction tools was to get us to find 20 things that fitted in a matchbox. This organizing and tidying has spilled over into both my sisters and my life in very different ways.
I always start in my Studio by tidying or re-presenting the area. Sorting and handling my stuff centers me and gives me space to think.
My sister has the most amazing home filled with things she has and is collecting and it is all sorted and catalogued. It is completely jaw dropping at times. She has a very eclectic eye and what she gathers is so quirky. It will all eventually end up in an art project or re-puposed into something amazing. But the organizing and storage is something to write a book about. Next time I am in Welly I shall get some photographs.
Mums Junk drawer had everything in it..matches to broken christmas ornaments needing mended as did mine. I am a bit more ruthless these days and  only allocate certain useful things to live there like serviettes, batteries,matches, candles and staplers.
Part of this is a settling in my thinking as well.
Mindfulness is a big buzz word in Mental Health and I have being figuring out how it is applied. Meditation is something I have done now for maybe 6 years ( a bit irregular  at the moment) and mindful ness ( for me-paying attention to where I am, stilling and recognizing intrusive thoughts, appreciating peeling a potato,  concentrating on the conversation I am in and just being) is something I do naturally now..although at times when the anxiety kicks in( GAZ) I have to work harder.
Recently the Anxiety took a hold for about 3-4 weeks and no amount of what I knew helped. Too much forward thinking happening. What did help was Prayer and working out where faith fitted with Mindfulness. What I came to was 'Rejoice in this day the Lord has made ' Out of all of everything else these words did it for me and Poof anxiety gone.
I love this phrase and the practical knowledge of mindfulness and meditation bought it to life for me. But it would not have happened without prayer first. Good reminders for me.