Thinking Outside the Box

Thinking outside the box. 

I am "litterly" challenged when it comes to thinking outside of the box. I am definitely fixed on the traditional use or way of doing something. 

As a teacher I had spent years stapling bulletin board paper flat to the board as

it was intended, but was completely blown away when a young whipper snapper took the paper and twisted it resulting in a 3D effect. Who knew you could do such a  thing?

Another teacher closer to my own age had the audacity to take a free standing clothes locker and turn it on its end to make a bookshelf. My world was rocked by the possibilities, and I knew that left to my own devises I would never have considered it for any other purpose than its original one. 

Since moving into the house I've had two aha moments when it comes to thinking in a different way. One of the features included in our kitchen is a pull-out trash area. It is large enough to accommodate both trash and recycling. I measured the area, and then made a trip to Walmart to purchase two bins that would fit. When I got home I placed them both in the traditional direction of a regular trash can similar to the one we had at our last house. Although, it was tight, they both seemed to fit. Later that night as I was perusing Pinterest I saw a similar set up, except the trash cans were facing a totally different direction. Never in my wildest dreams would I have considered placing them that way, but voila they fit perfectly. 

That same day I had also purchased a special mat that was supposed to catch cat litter resulting in a less messy area. At the apartment I had placed the litter box in one direction based on the space available. When I set up the litter box in the laundry room I did it exactly the same way.  Except, when I checked the next day the cat had exited the box from a different direction, and had left behind a trail of litter granuals. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks that I needed to turn the box around so the cat had a larger area in which to enter. 

I realized then that although, I have a mind like a steel trap when it comes to gps type directions, I'm definitely challenged when it comes to anything spatial. For years the Xerox machine was my nemesis when it came to double sided copying. 

All in all, though, I did get a good laugh out of my obviously lack of out of the "litter box" thinking!