The Ugly Couch, A Breakup Story
By Charlie Daily
Photos: Depositphotos.com
For the longest time I have been thinking about getting rid of my ugly couch. I have had it for so long that I have grown to tolerate its severe misplacement in my life. Breaking up is sometimes hard to do. When you don’t know how to cope after breaking up with someone you love, it makes you feel scared and uncertain. Once you replace the couch, the whole room needs a makeover. Although my couch is ugly and out of style, it’s my normal. I have had it for twelve years. It has consoled me when I was down. It’s literally been the only thing I can lie on and feel safe before I bought the ottoman and loveseat.
However, lately is has been uncomfortable. The metal frame has begun to poke me every time I sit down, which is causing the inner stuffing to come out. I no longer get excited when I see my couch. Buying a new couch is such a big commitment though. Can I even afford new furniture? No more excuses. I am getting rid of my ugly couch. Makeovers are hard but living with something that I have outgrown will be even harder.
I Hate Redecorating
The first time I saw my couch, I hated it. Though it was beautiful and expensive, it was full of itself. It expected for everyone to plop down and get comfortable because it was the best couch in the store. I initially passed my couch up and went with a less pretty alternative. The alternative was alright, but it wasn’t giving me what I needed. It required me to keep buying items for it to complement the room.
I couldn’t fight the urge no longer. I went back for the more expensive couch. But just like the alternative, my couch did not sustain its value. It does not convey who I am today. I am no longer that person. No matter what I do I can’t get my couch to fit with my color scheme. Redecorating can be scary and overwhelming. With support and perseverance, redecorating can be a way for me to find who I am instead of living in the past.
But its Comfortable Though
My couch has been my best friend up to this point. It has protected me, made me feel safe. When no one else was there, I could count on my couch to comfort me in my time of need. It knows me and at one point of time, I knew it. My couch used to be predictable. I could come home, and it would have a blanket and a pillow waiting for me. It used to recline with a touch of a button and had a charger plugged in on the side of it for convenience. Things are different now. I don’t know the couch I sit on. Its repulsive, condescending, and even narcissistic at times. It has no accountability for how uncomfortable it is and how much pain it has caused.
What is so hurtful is that my couch can be everything it is supposed to be for someone else. It can be charming and inviting. It can fulfil all the needs of everyone else but me. How can my couch be so ungrateful when I helped it to become something better? People usually buy a couch and don’t think much about it. But me, I bought a sofa cover to preserve its leather. Pillows, paintings, rugs everything to make my couch feel comfortable and wanted. Now my couch is nothing but a mental discomfort that causes me anguish every time I see it. However, learning to cope with breaking up with someone you love is difficult.
Its Too Heavy
When I first bought my couch, I didn’t do much shopping around. I went to one department store. I tried a few couches out but none of them didn’t seem to fit me. There was that alternative but like I said earlier, I was settling. It was only fulfilling half of my needs. But now my couch, my one true love is no longer fulfilling my needs. I keep rearranging my living room to make it fit, but no arrangement will work. Every time I move my couch I get hurt. I strain my back, I cut my fingers, and bang my knee. My couch used to have wheels on the bottom so it can be move easily. But somehow, someone have taken them off when I wasn’t looking.
I don’t know who took them off or where the wheels are. Even if the wheel were put back on. My couch and I have a serious disconnect. It is no longer satisfied with being laid on by just me. My ugly couch wants to be free and admired. It wants attention and notoriety. I am only one person. Carrying my couch has become too much to bear. Don’t get me wrong, I have supported my couch through everything. When no one else saw its beauty, I did. I knew my couch would be great. But when my couch got its big debut on the cover of a furniture magazine, it forgot all about me and what I did for it. My couch is now just a heavy burden that I must put down or risk permanent damage forever.
The Eye Sore
The ugly couch has lost its appeal and I am not just speaking of its physical appearance. In fact, on the outside, my couch looks the same. It’s when I sit down and lay on it that I know we are no longer a good fit. The metal stabs me and the inner upholstery gets on my clothes every time I sit down. I tried to get my couch repaired, but there is no repairing it. It does not see the pain that it is causing me. Even people are starting to notice that something is not quite right with my couch and I. But we do what we know best, we fake like we are happy. We have turned this relationship into a façade.
We mask our problems so we don’t seem weak, even though when I sit on my couch its moments away from collapsing into itself. My couch is no longer dependable. One time I went to sit on my couch and someone else was there. My couch was stronger than ever for this new person although this person did nothing for it. When people come to my house, they know that my couch is no longer mine even though I haven’t gotten rid of it yet. How can I when there is so much history there? My couch has become an eye sore in my life and my living room and if I don’t do something quick, I am going to sit on my couch one day and get seriously injured.
The Miserable Rectangle
Lately I have been losing things and I can’t seem to find them. I have lost my personality and sense of self. I did not know this at the time, but my couch has been conforming me to be what it wanted me to be. It wants all the attention and affection but doesn’t want to give any in return. My couch has gobbled up my car keys and refuses to spit them out. I have turned my couch upside down and it still will not budge. I want to leave but it makes it so difficult for me to do so. But did you know what I did find in my ugly couch? Depression, anxiety, and a eating disorder. It took me so many years to clean the dirt from under my nails from trying to look for what I had lost.
My couch did not make it easy for me though. Every chance it got it would cut my hand or make it get stuck in between its cushions. Something good did come from my couch. I was able to get a matching love seat and ottoman to go with it. My love seat and ottoman mean the world to me. I would do anything and everything for them. They are versatile and even though I won’t have my ugly couch, my ottoman and loveseat go with everything. They will still be here once the makeover is complete. But I keep second guessing myself. Can I really afford to remodel a whole room?
Can I Afford This Purchase?
My ugly couch and I are no longer compatible. However, my couch is still useful believe it or not. It looks the part, but I am the only one that knows it is not doing all its duties. My couch does the bare minimum, nothing more nothing less. It believes that it can get by off looks. It is not all my ugly couch’s fault. If there is anyone to blame it is me. I have depended on the couch for so long that I cannot financially be without my ugly couch. I mean I could, but it would make my life much more hectic. If I got rid of my couch, where would I sit? Where would I put my laundry when I don’t feel like folding it?
My couch and I have become comfortable with living a half life for so long. However, when I am wind up and stressed, my couch knows how to make me relax. For that time, there is no disconnect. We are two beings dancing on the edge of the universe. My couch knows how to cater to my needs but only when it’s convenient. When I just want to lay down and get cozy, my couch makes it hard for me to do so because we are no longer connected. There is more to a relationship than sitting. I am starting to think that I can’t afford to not to look for a new couch.
Maybe I Can Look Around
Looking for a new couch means changing the theme of my living room. Some things will stay like my ottoman and loveseat. But maybe I can change the rug, add a coffee table, and some new pictures. I love my ugly couch. I wish my couch would be flexible and compromise with me, but it refuses to cooperate. My couch knows that I want to get rid of it. It will change temporarily and then we are back to the same old routine. I can’t keep falling for that. My ugly couch has some good qualities, but it doesn’t want to be the amazing couch I know it can be. When someone else sat on my couch for a whole year, it anticipated that person’s needs. It did everything right.
But my couch was embarrassed of that person sitting on it. Thats why I did not find about this other person until after I bought the loveseat and ottoman. If I did not buy the loveseat and ottoman, and the other person wasn’t so embarrassing, my couch would have had itself delivered to that person’s house. My couch wants to stay but doesn’t want to accommodate my needs. My couch is afraid that it will be replaced by something better like a sofa or a sectional. It doesn’t want to see me move on but moving on is inevitable.
The Big Reveal
I know what I want now. I have gotten everything I need to redecorate my living room. I decided not to replace my ugly couch. I am getting rid of it, but I am not going to replace it with another couch, sectional, or sofa. My loveseat and ottoman are more than enough. They will always be enough. They make me so happy. Even when I feel like giving up, my loveseat will cradle me, and my ottoman lets me rest my feet on it.
My loveseat and ottoman are consistent. They are comfortable and nurturing. Without them I would not have a purpose. I would not want to reach goals or get further in life. I love my ottoman and loveseat. Since the day I bought them, they have been the center of my living room. They will always be. That is one of the few things my couch and I agree on. The loveseat and ottoman must stay in mint condition. If I don’t ever get a replacement, they are all I need.
