My Favourite Possession

I have lost many things along the way, and I've given away many too, but my favourite item will always be here at my parent's house.

I was 21 years old when I purchased a lamp at a store downtown Montego Bay, Jamaica. Upon entering the newly opened furniture and collectables store that was much a rave in town; I was dazzled by the display of art deco nude woman figure tabletop lamps with white globe lights. They were the most captivating things I'd seen, and I knew right there and then that I had to have one.

There might have been over 10 different stunning poses, which left me in a quandary not knowing which one to purchase.

In a moment of glee, I made the executive decision and purchased this lamp.

My reasoning at the time was that it was not the most elegant, picturesque, or impressive of all the poses, but at that moment, I had a flashback to my childhood. This pose displayed by the lady was my default position which I often did against the wall on my bed when I needed time out. I also recalled pondering what was the reason why I always reclined in that position.

Without any doubt or second-guessing, I left the store with this (extremely heavy) lamp and took it back to my rented flat.

A few years later, still unheard-of yoga, I moved to live at a new location that was right on a cliff directly in front of the sea at an old hotel called Eaton Hall in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, Jamaica.
Big waves came bouncing against the walls and would sometimes splash onto the pool area. There I started doing movements that seemed to come naturally out of nowhere.

One Christmas, there was a parcel delivered containing gifts from some repeat guests at the resort where I worked, and in it, was a VHS Yoga cassette (those things are obsolete now).

Somehow, my colleagues (a gregarious crew of entertainment staff who shared an office with me) 'mockingly' said, "Oh this must be for Milly, she has the temperament to sit quietly and do yoga.

I responded, "thank you, I AM interested in Yoga."

The crew chuckled and remarked,
"We know you well."

Later, I discovered that the pose of the lady on the lamp was a yoga pose called the shoulder stand. I then realised that the other elegant poses from the collection, that I'd seen in the shop were all yoga poses too.

I've often wondered, had I known yoga and all the different poses when I was making the selection of lamp if I would have made the same decision and purchased this pose that reminded me of myself as a little girl.

Maybe, maybe not! Still...

My favourite position, became my favourite possession.

I've always been happy with the lamp, and it's comforting to know that the Shoulder Stand is referred to as the Queen of all the asanas as it helps the body both inside and outside.

I've never told my mum that the lamp is precious to me, simply because I would hate for her to suffer guilt or try to replace the lamp if it broke or got damaged.
I would simply accept the end.

However, when I entered my parent's house last November, the lamp was the first thing that I saw on the centre coffee table.

I smiled. 🖤

_{The photos are mine}