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A Matter of Glitter

Glitter, glitter, everywhere
On my sweater, in my hair
On the carpet, table, chairs
Glitter, glitter, everywhere!

When I first snatched this lovely Christmas wrapping paper, bedecked with glittery designs, from the shelf at Big Lots, I was dazzled by its splendor, caught up in a momentary tween-like frenzy, surrounded by shelves of sparkly things....like a mindless fish, mesmerized by the flash and shine of a fishing lure, I went for it. It looked so neat, lovely and harmless, all sealed up in its plastic wrapper! Little did I know the mayhem that lurked behind such a thin film of protection...

Yes, I'm being a bit melodramatic, but, really, what a mess! The dining table, where I have been wrapping gifts with the shimmering assailant, looks like Tinkerbell had a mishap with some C-4.

Glitter...everywhere!

After five years with the Ladies of Honor, I'm no stranger to the hazard. It's not an entirely unpleasant thing--to be contaminated by glitter...It made me think...

We all have those glitterific women in our lives. They are too perfect, or too cheerful, or too beautiful for everyday utility, like a princess that has fallen from the pages of a fairy tales book, right into your life, reminding you of how very plain you are, in comparison. Why do we think they are annoying? That feeling, that nagging discomfort around them--it's really something else: we WANT to be that girl, but we don't think we are cut from the same glittery paper as she was. You are wrong.

If you dig just a little deeper, you will find another source of discomfort: a revelation that you are supposed to be that girl, too.  In Jane Austen's "Emma," the heroine is constantly irritated by a young woman raised in the same village...she was sick of hearing about Jane Fairfax, and avoided her whenever possible, until one day, a good friend interrupted her whispered critical diatribe with a comment that rocked her world (in a bad way): maybe she disliked Jane so much because she was a reminder of the accomplished woman she could be, if only she made the effort. Ouch.

Glitter is contagious. It goes where you go, and leaves a trail wherever you've been... but maybe we are mistaken in seeing it as a "mess."  Maybe we've been looking at it the wrong way, all along. Step back and think about the glitterific women in your life from a different angle, too. Instead of being annoyed by the sparkle, admire her fairy tale aura. Don't be afraid to get too close--it's OK her sparkle rubs off on you. She will make you a better person, just by being near her. Embrace the glitter.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." -- Ecclesiastes 3:11

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