SMALL CELEBRATIONS
Are there things you're saving for a special occasion instead of enjoying today? Not using something that you love -- thinking it could be damaged or lost -- is another fear-based trap. There isn't enough time for that. This day is what we have. This celebration. This moment. Right now.
ONE SUMMER AFTERNOON when I was 12, I cooked up some chocolate pudding. To make the from-a-package dessert a little bit special, I let it cool and then quite cautiously spooned it into four of my mother's etched crystal goblets. They were, I knew, a wedding gift from 18 years earlier. Beautiful and delicate and rarely used, their home was way in the back of a cupboard. Even so, I thought it would be OK ... if I was really careful.
Oh boy, was I wrong.
I still remember the sound of Mom's fear -- a sharp intake of breath -- when she saw them adorned with pudding and standing on the kitchen counter.
It took me a while to release those lessons ... that "good" stuff -- like china, silver and crystal -- had to stay tucked away in a cupboard or closet ... that precious objects were to be brought out only for company on holidays. Best to keep them wrapped up most of the time. Out of sight meant: safe from harm.
When I finally gave up that scarcity/fear thinking, I found that an ordinary wine somehow tasted better in a fine glass and a beautiful plate made leftovers elegant. Whenever they are used, much-loved items create small celebrations.
In my kitchen, there is a silver sugar and creamer set that belonged to my husband's mother. Both pieces have several small dents. While I'm polishing, I speculate about how those dents came to be. During a move? Or maybe there was an argument, generations ago, and sterling silver objects were tossed around? Or could they have been thrown out by mistake and then rescued from a trash bin? The people who would know are all gone now. I'm left with fantasies and two less-than-perfect treasures. Still, I choose to celebrate them every day.
(c) Copyright Jane Allen. 2007. All rights reserved. U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1534-178X.
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