Skip to main content

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When it’s too much...#INSUFFICIENT

It’s Monday again, and —-wait, how did you just react to that? Did your shoulders square up or droop? Did you take a deep, invigorating breath, or expel a sigh? Whatever you’re facing this week, whether it’s the fire-breathing dragon in the corner office, the mean girl in the next cubicle or the inadequacies you see when you look in the mirror, the fact that you’re facing the same ongoing battles over and over doesn’t make them any easier, or the outcome any more certain.  Some days you still feel like the tiny 6th-grader, overloaded with heavy books, forgetting your locker combination, getting bullied out of your lunch money, and overwhelmed by the crowd of boisterous over-achievers. There you are, just trying to get by without being run over, caught up and pulled down in the undertow. Much like the chaos and turbulence of a hallway crowded with middle-schoolers hyped up on sodas and hormones, some of the biggest rivers we have to cross are overwhelming, mind-boggling and equal...
1 comment
Read more

NEMESIS, TRAPS AND DIGRESSIONS, OH MY!

Let's begin at the beginning. You have challenges. You have issues. You have enemies. All of the above would be true for any of us -- from slacker to slave, from victim to hero -- but there is actually one very small but highly distinguishing characteristic: perspective. Yes, the thing that makes mountains out of molehills--and vice versa--is undoubtedly the key to success or failure, and the common thread through the story of every hero. Something interesting about perspective: it can be found, lost, and regained -- although sometimes elusive, it's always attainable.  Through the next week, we will explore the various things responsible for our lost perspective, and talk about how to get it back. I was about to say that there are three things that generally rob us of our proper perspective, but that would imply that it can be taken from us, by force. The fact is, unfortunately, we sometimes "lose" our perspective as easily as we misplace our keys, cell phone, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

SMART Goals: Week Two--Let's Make it Measurable

SMART Goals are Specific, first of all. I hope we have adequately covered that, via the "pick your battles wisely" philosophy. We mulled over priorities, meandered around realities, and meditated on possibilities...all in the spirit of choosing three essential goals for the year. Next, it is absolutely crucial that that we make our goals (outcomes) measurable. Without being measured, there is no definition of success (or failure, but we do not intend to be pessimistic so soon). You must know where this is going. If something is going to be measured, that brings some serious accountability into the equation---scary, huh? I don't know about you, but my blood pressure has a somewhat Pavlovian response that word--in the worst way...It makes you think about horrific things, such as report cards, the President's fitness test, and oh, yes, that dreaded but inevitable moment when the medical assistant in your doctor's office smiles and says, "now if you will just ...
Post a Comment
Read more