In one of my strange 3 am wake up sessions, I wrote this blog in my head while trying to get back to sleep. I was thinking about a show I watched earlier and one of the characters saying that a certain person had been a “staple” in their lives, and I came up with this crazy office supply analogy of how people and things can go from staples to paperclips.
Let me try to explain this…

When you think of a staple, you think of a couple of facts. 1. They hold things together, or fasten something in place. 2. They are strong and very reliable. They do their job 99% of the time. 3. They are usually permanent, and it takes a great effort to remove them, barely ever escaping without leaving a tear in the paper.

“Staples” in our lives can consist of many things. Friends, family, an addiction (good or bad), the list goes on and on. For sake of the blog, let’s stick with people. Just like staples, these folks hold things together, they are supportive of us, strong, reliable. You know you can call them in the middle of the night, and they will do their job of piecing you back together. And hopefully, they are permanent. If they do exit our lives for whatever reason, it will leave a scar. Just like the tear in the paper, this tear will be in our hearts.

These “staples” – well sometimes they become “paperclips.” Now what do we think about when we think of those little buggers. 1. They are flimsy and bend easily. 2. They get caught on things, papers get separated. 3. They are not reliable and we use them with caution, knowing full-well that they fail at their job, most of the time.

When people enter into the paperclip realm, it means we have lost the “connection.” The fastening together. They become distant, unreliable. They often don’t help us keep it together, maybe not even knowing what is happening in our lives. And we don’t feel the safety and support from them that we need. But a good thing about paperclips, they come off easily. Our papers (our hearts) are rarely torn when these are removed. You know why? Because they probably weren’t the right fit in the first place.

As years go by and people change, you will figure out who your staples are. And as for your paperclips, eventually, you will separate, but you will be okay. Pay attention to those staples and appreciate the reliable people in your life. We meet everyone for a reason. So whether they are there for one moment, or there for them all, it was meant to happen that way.

To all my staples: I love you all so much. 🙂 You know who you are.