Evaporation

I was in my bathroom this evening, taking clothes out of my washing machine, when something caught my eye.

There are three decorative shelves on the wall. One holds three candles, one holds two yellow rubber duckies, and one holds, among other objects, a cool-looking shampoo bottle.

Many years ago I came across the bottle at Bath and Body Works. I just liked the old-fashioned apothecary-like look of it and purchased it for the shelf, not to wash my hair with.

What caught my eye is that the bottle is now about 1/4 empty. The shampoo is s-l-o-w-l-y evaporating.

Look what can happen when you're not paying attention. Time passes, age accrues, your makeup changes.

I've been having a particularly difficult time lately. I find I'm not into the Holiday Season whatsoever. I can't help but feel down that my next birthday brings me only two years away from the big 4-0. I am incredibly lonely, as the "significant other" in my life is a 14-year-old Basset Hound with a bad back and acute separation anxiety. I miss my grandmother so much sometimes I can't breathe. My biological clock is draining it's backup battery by the day. I regret the roads I chose that led me here.

I too sat high on a shelf for a long time and now I wonder if I have thus far fulfilled a purpose. Or, have I merely been decorative, yet unused?

And most importantly, how does one begin to fill the bottle again?