One to Keep & Thoughts from Grigorios Xenopoulos (Γρηγόριος Ξενόπουλος)

I WAS only too happy the other day to find the missing lipstick necklace! I have the lipstick necklace twice: in silver and gold. It's fake jewelry, of course; together, they cost 24,98 euro. However, they are among my most prized possessions!

Here I am today, proudly wearing the silver lipstick necklace! It was the silver that had gone missing in a drawer. As I said, my drawers are absolutely chaotic, and the same goes for my cupboards. I am manic with cleanliness, but order is not my thing. 

In the second picture (below) you can see the lipstick necklace with another prized possession, my Marks and Spencer white wool shawl! This shawl is absolutely fantastic. It's soft and pretty, and very warm. It wasn't expensive, and I loved it so much I bought it twice: one to wear and one to keep.

I guess I cannot make it any more obvious how attached I am to my things. I have filled my space with beautiful little things which I love. Without beauty, I cannot function and, of course, beauty does not have to be expensive.

There is a soul in soulless things, wrote classic Greek writer Grigorios Xenopoulos (Γρηγόριος Ξενόπουλος). He had a small iron shoe tool (or paper weight, I cannot remember exactly) which had stayed with him for decades, when other more expensive or notable things had disappeared. 

Xenopoulos lived in the late nineteenth century until after the Second World War. He became famous in Greece and Cyprus for his social and romantic dramatic fiction, and also for a children and young adult magazine he edited for years. He contributed to that magazine in many ways, including with an editorial letter addressed to the readers each week. I have a selected edition of those letters, which is where I found the little piece on things. Xenopoulos believed that some items are almost alive, and stick with us through thick and thin, just like a live person would.

I totally agree with Xenopoulos on this.

Have a great start to the week! xxx