There was a box in the basement full of spare parts to a whatchamacallit that we don’t own anymore. It was on the floor of the basement between the stairs and my office. Only now that it’s gone do I realize the mental energy that it took to avoid thinking about it. I blocked it out of my sight every morning and evening. I stepped around it and never really noticed it. If I calculate it out, including lunch and bathroom breaks, that box had made me walk at least 3 extra kilometers in the last couple of years.

Now that it’s gone, I feel lighter somehow. The open space on the floor truly makes me smile. Not only do I have less distance to go, I step lighter while getting there. The day before it left, if you’d asked me what was on the floor in front of my office, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Was there even anything there? The amount of denial that went in to simply having that box sit on the floor is incredible.

I want to save an emotion in a bottle. Just one. I want to save that feeling I get when I walk straight across a large open space on the basement floor that I’ve been walking around for nearly as long as we’ve had the house.

I want to keep the lightness and joy that comes from having the donations door at the Goodwill close between me and the boxes of junk that I’ve been hosting in my basement and in the back of my brain for longer than my 11 year old has been talking.

MrsPages always laughs that I have a song lyric to go with any situation. I wish I had more scripture up there, but sometimes the song lyrics work too:

It’s hard to imagine the freedom we find
From the things we leave behind.

– Michael Card, from his truly incredible album Poiema.

I’ve been noticing a strong trend in the blogs that MrsPages and I read.

Blogs about family by women can generally be described by choosing one or two topics from the following list:

• Here are some wonderful things we did today, and here’s a cute picture.
• Here are some things that I really struggle with.
• Here’s a nice graphic and a pleasant thought to go with it.
• Here are some things that I’m praying about and really working with God on.
• Here are some great suggestions to deal with a household problem.
• Here’s some affirmation!
• Here’s how my family spend some quality time together.
• Here’s a link to something from this list on the blog of another great woman!

Blogs about family by men can generally be described by choosing one topic from the following list:

• Here’s something I did with my computer.
• Here’s some deep theological commentary.
• Here’s a link to something that’s happening in the news.
• Here’s something I did with tools.

I really struggle with this. My blog isn’t written to be some fabulously useful tome of wisdom and knowledge to unite all of mankind in peace, understanding and the sharing of ice-cold Coca-Cola. I know, however, that I don’t want to be a cliche ‘man blogger’. I don’t want to host the kind of blog that you can read for a year and be full of information but have no idea who I am and who you are and why it matters that you know who I am and who you are.

I want to do some of those things that the women-folk do.

I want to talk about what I struggle with. I want to share great suggestions for improving family life. I want to talk about the things I’m praying about and how God is showing me answers. I want to talk about my kids and show pictures.

If you know of any men blogging real life with their families (Christian or not, homeschooling or not) let me know. Post them in the comments.

And then, boy do I want to share about my latest Ubuntu Linux install…