The Empty Box
By Daryl Hoole

We’ve just enjoyed a beautiful season of gift giving. I’m wondering, however, with all the thoughtfulness you expressed in selecting gifts for family and friends, did you take any thought about a gift for yourself? Seldom, if ever, do we give gifts to ourselves, but I highly recommend it. Doing so can be very rewarding.

This year, as I looked over the packages under our tree, I recalled the year of the “empty box.” The empty box was a gift I worked on for months and then wrapped and gave to myself. It was a perfect gift, exactly what I wanted. I couldn’t have been more pleased or excited. And it’s a gift that keeps on giving — years later I’m still reaping the benefits.

As I reminisced about my gift, I thought of you Meridian readers and concluded that this is an idea worth sharing because many of you might also be interested in giving yourself a gift, maybe even an empty box. Your gift could be for next Christmas or for your birthday or some other occasion or for no reason at all other than you want to do it. It could take as long as eleven months to get it ready, so with it already being two weeks into the New Year, there’s not a minute to spare in getting started.

Here’s the story.

Years ago when we had a house full of young children, I longed for a block of quiet, uninterrupted hours to file a stack of papers that was stashed in a box. It was a big project. After feeling frustrated about it and struggling with what to do for some time, I realized that even though I couldn’t work a lot at any one time on it, I could do a little in small increments. Maybe I could manage so as to have ten minutes or so each day and file at least three papers. The project would move slowly, I understood, but there would be progress.

I put my plan into effect and managed to come up with ten minutes, more or less, most days. Not only was it was gratifying to watch the pile of papers in the box gradually disappear as the filing cabinet filled up, but after the paper was in the file no one messed it up, no one spit up or spilled on it, and no one ate it. It stayed put! At a point when my life was filled with diapers and dishes, this filing was one task that remained done. And my papers were organized — no more shuffling through dozens of papers to find the one I wanted.

The months passed and by the time Christmas came around that year, the box was empty — the task was completed. I felt like celebrating, so I did. Just for fun I wrapped the box up, added ribbon and a bow and put it under the tree with a tag reading from me to me.

Do you have a box (or two or more) that needs to be emptied? Are there papers to be filed, old clothing to be sorted, obsolete financial records to be discarded, used books to be given away, photos to be labeled and compiled, or is there a shelf or drawer somewhere in your house that needs emptying, dejunking, and reorganizing? How about an entire closet or even a room or a garage that would serve you better if it went through this process?

Or perhaps your “box” is only figurative and there’s something intangible that you’ve collected in your life you would like to unload. Are you burdened by guilt, resentment, anger, jealousy, or lack of forgiveness that you need to rid yourself of? Such an “empty box” could be every bit as rewarding, or even more so, as one cleared of papers.

It’s time to get started if you want your gift to be ready for the next special occasion. At least it is time for me because I have another box to empty. This one is filled with the past year’s collection of photos and other keepsake items that need to find a permanent home in a family album. I can picture how good that box, wrapped with a ribbon and bow and labeled from me to me, will look under our tree. And most important, I can picture how satisfying it will be to open that box and find it empty!

Daryl will be a presenter at the Nauvoo Women’s Retreat, March 13-15, 2008. For information on attending this outstanding program, visit www.nauvoofamilyinn.com.

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Daryl Hoole has written and lectured extensively on home management and family living. She authored six books, including the long-term, best-selling The Art of Homemaking. Recently her new book The Ultimate Career — The Art of Homemaking for Today was published and is being enthusiastically received. She has been in demand as a speaker for women’s groups throughout the United States and Canada and has spoken at Education Weeks for over twenty-five years. She has served in all the Church auxiliaries and was a member of the Primary General Board. She fulfilled two missions to The Netherlands, once when her father was mission president and later when her husband presided over that mission. In addition, she and her husband recently served a third mission in Asia as area welfare-humanitarian administrators, based in Hong Kong. Daryl and her husband, Hendricus (Hank), are the parents of eight living children and the grandparents of thirty-six. She currently serves with her husband as a member of the Young Single Adult Coordinating Council of the Bonneville Region in the Salt Lake City area.

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