Repurpose..A word that says it all!

Anything can be repurposed?

Not sure how this happened, but I have a lot of interior design friends on social media. I think it started on Twitter when I “followed” a designer whose writing style I liked. She “followed” me back and before I knew it, I was in a morning carousel of chatter with designers and those of similar passions. And I love it!.

 I love reading about their ideas, their visions and their missions. I've used so many of their suggestions when recently redecorating my own home. I would often post a picture of a project I was working on and ask for opinions. And boy…did I get them.  I've even picked up their lingo. The word “repurpose” has almost completely eliminated “renovation” from their dictionary. And this word speaks to me!

“Repurpose”

Its clear intent is to take something that’s time, style, or age, has rendered it useless. Out of fashion, out of date, passed its prime, and turn it into something spectacular. A purpose resurrected! "Purpose" is a noun, a singular state of motivation or grounds. "Repurpose" is a verb; a plan of action, a resolve, a determination. A word that great, that powerful, can't be limited to inanimate objects. We should be able to repurpose our dreams, our goals...our souls! The thought of being able to this makes me downright giddy.

Even Humpty Dumpty needed to repurpose. When this children's verse was originally scripted in the early 1700's, it was a warning that sometimes things beyond our control change, and even an intervention by a large group of men can't fix it. The first version was a little different than the one that became more popular. But, I like this one better;

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
Four-score Men and Four-score more,

Could not put Humpty Dumpty where he was before

So many of us have found ourselves shattered like a broken egg shell at the base of a life's wall. Not even being able to vision getting back to where we were before. Joblessness, divorce, illness, grief...anything can be the culprit that knocks us off our perch. If we're lucky, someone will be there to help us up and back together. But scaling the wall again, now that's a whole other venture. One that is usually done alone. So...

“Repurpose”

Refurbish, reconfigure, refuel and regenerate! (Lots of RE-asons to do so!) Even if your base assembly is still a little wobbly from the fall, adjust your settings to the new you. Do you even need that particular wall to climb? There are others. I've watched so many people who've had to alter their climbs. In my own personal quest, I've decided I just don't want to sit back on the wall...I want to stand on it. I want to stand firmly while shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun. I want to be able to see what's coming. I don't want to sit on the wall. I want to own it. Even at my age, I can repurpose my goals and not live in the nouns of "me", "myself" or "you". I want to throw a rock into the water and ride the verbs of the ripple downstream. How ever far it goes.

In Lewis Carrol's "Through the Looking Glass", (which is slightly more hardcore than the more famous "Alice in Wonderland"), Alice comes across a rather dominant Humpty, still sitting on his high brick wall, and gets into a discussion on the proper use of words. He appears to have a premonition of the fall about to come. He warns Alice to be careful about the words she chooses. "They've a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with".  So true, my friend. Your wisdom so far ahead of its time. And repurpose is a verb you were about to learn!