Today was one of those really satisfying days - you know, the kind that you feel really accomplished at the end of, the kind of day that you feel wasn't "wasted" (it's amazing how often we feel like a day was "wasted" - what a terrible thought but one that crosses my mind frequently). Today, however was the perfect example of a non-wasted day; a day where the balance of recreation and responsibility was in perfect harmony. Today was my "Sunday"; back to work tomorrow but I don't mind (in fact I'm looking forward to it). Days like this make you feel like everything is ok, no matter how many things there are still left to do, it's ok because you fulfilled today and it filled you. I don't know if it was my good mood or the mild, sunny, almost spring-like weather today (well, maybe not spring but there seemed a hint of something less wintery in the air) but at one special moment today I felt like a child again. It was only for a brief and precious moment; I had just finished the first coats of Chalk Paint for a new project (stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on that) and as I was cleaning my paintbrush in the sink, the afternoon sun streaming through the kitchen window, I looked up to see my crystal sun-catcher breaking the shafts of light into tiny rainbows on my cabinet.
Now this may seem trivial, I mean, so what right? What's the big deal about a few light prisms? But that's just it, it's so simple and the memory it invokes is so pure that that's what makes it so wonderful. In that moment, of spotting the rainbows of light in my kitchen, I was transported to my childhood. In a flash of cerebral brilliance, I remembered how I felt the very first time I saw what happened when a crystal was turned this way and that until it was just so in the light to create my own little rainbows. I remembered seeing crystal sun-catchers dangling in the windows of my mother's own kitchen, of watching them twirl in the soft breeze of our "gallery room" - a kind of summer living/sun room with windows on three sides where we spent hazy July evenings and sweet August afternoons eating corn on the cob and hotdogs in our bathing suits, fresh out of our family swimming pool. For a split second I was seven years old again and all that mattered in the world was making time for a tea party with my dolls (and of course my beloved teddy bear) after school. For a moment I was back in a world where the half-way point of my day was measured by my coming home for lunch (thank goodness we only lived a few blocks from the school!)
As often happens with such memories, they are gone just as quickly as they appear but thankfully the feelings they bring with them can last if we allow them. We've all had such memories at one time or another but oftentimes we shoo them away or block them or enjoy them for a millisecond and then forget them. Why is this? If it's a good memory or a not-so-good one or even one we think is not worth remembering, it's still a moment in your own personal story. Look at how that one memory of rainbow lights led me to thoughts of summer fun and family love. And yes, even bad memories can lead to good thoughts too.
So tonight as you lay in bed, think back to how you felt as a child, all tucked in, cuddling a favourite toy, reliving what happened during your day and dreaming of what tomorrow holds. You're still that child... you're just, well, you know...bigger!
Have a joyful week my friends!
xox
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