A tale of three vacuums
January 11, 2024
By Jeff Becraft
We have three vacuum cleaners… and I will try and explain the tale of the three vacuums.
Vacuum #1 is a cannister style vacuum. The kind that has wheels and you pull it around. Except the wheels on this one no longer turn. So you have to drag it around everywhere you go. Also, the attachment for carpets is broken and hasn’t worked for years. But it is still the best vacuum for hard, smooth floors such as the kitchen and bathrooms.
Vacuum #2 was bought to replace vacuum #1. It is an upright vacuum and has the best motor and best horsepower of the three. The problem, however, is that it does not do very well on hard, smooth floors and has not made it behind the first toilet. Which is why you then have to get the draggin’ wagon and drag it to the bathroom. Another problem is the latch for the wand (which is also the main handle) broke and so when you pull back, it pops out of the vacuum. Perhaps you can see why this would be a problem when vacuuming a house. It is currently held in place by bungee cords.
Vacuum #3 was bought to replace #1 and #2. It is also an upright and was made by the same company as #2. It is the newest, most lightweight, and most maneuverable. The only problem is… it hardly picks up anything. It sits where we have kept the vacuum… in the coat closet… and looks nice. If, however, you only have a little bit of time and you want the most lightweight and most maneuverable unit, this might be your ticket… as long as you don’t mind the minor detail that it hardly picks anything up. It does leave marks on the carpet… so if you want it to look like you actually did something, then this one might serve your purpose as well.
Having three vacuums does deter the neighbors from wanting to borrow a vacuum from us in case theirs breaks. They would have to haul three vacuums back with them. “You need this one for your hard, smooth floors; you need this one for your carpets; and you need this one to put where you keep your vacuum so it looks nice.”
The purpose of a vacuum is to pull up dirt… perhaps dirt we don’t even see. We then dump the dirt into the trash, and then we haul the trash out of the house so it is out of our lives. We now have clean floors to roll around on, play with grandkids on, fall-asleep-after-eating-a-turkey-dinner on, etc.
Sometimes there are things in our lives that are hindering us… maybe habits or attitudes that aren’t the best. We (or others) may not even see it but it is woven down into the fibers of our lives. We may make surface changes so it looks like something has changed… or we might even just go on with our daily routine and just walk on top of it… but it is still there, hindering us none the same.
This is a great time to evaluate what is most important and what is best and hang on to that. And that which is negative or base or not the best?… draw that up out of the fibers of our lives and get rid of it… so that times of refreshment might come.
It’s a great day to have a great day!
Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].
