"The beauty of the world has two edges,
one of laughter, one of anguish,
cutting the heart asunder."
Virginia Woolf
pc / Ellie Be
Good day, and thank you for making a stop at my electronic screen door! Come in and I won't apologize for the mess because I won't apologize for doing my life -- but, actually, you've caught me at a great time and things are quite tidy and new right now. It seems most everyone has realized it's obnoxious to open sites with music automatically playing... but if you want to know what my heart hears as I present this place to you, listen to the Little Rascals Theme while you browse around.
What is life without "We gotta dollar, we gotta dollar, we gotta dollar, hey hey hey hey!" and a Delectable Darlooney? Without ZuZu's petals, Dennis the Menace, Woody, Buzz and the gang, that slobbery dog Beethoven, little orphan Annie and her persistent hope? Without magical castles, nonsense candy factories, and beautiful days in the neighborhood (beautiful days with our neighbor)? Without Timon and Elton John, spoonfuls of sugar, the yellow brick road, and all those pig movies? Without Annes in gables, children in boxcars, creatures in Hundred Acre Woods? Without Narnia, Charlie Brown, and Calvin & Hobbes? Without the princesses and the witches?
Before you knew your mom is going to die from cancer, before you find out adults aren't all happy, before you stay awake at night inside your brain, before depressions and mind games, before he broke up with you, before she abandoned you, before you saw him hit her, before you understood how much money provides for life, before understandable loss, before knowing the favorite food of that person - that body - in the grave, before life plans blew to... the stars, before you made that "mistake," before doing something with your life. What is life before then?
What is life without the imaginative innocence of childhood, the breaking of that naive freedom and your heart, then the fight fight fight to believe the stories were more important than any five year old could know? Disney stories, especially, resonate with me for their colorful, careful depiction of deep love, devastating loss, and the journey to be brave, keep joy today, and have hope tomorrow. The more I'm aware of all the pain life has to offer me, the people I love, and everyone else who shares earth with us, the more I believe in battling to see the good. Not to be in denial, or to be fake, or to put on a front, but to have honest proclamations about where your life, your day, your hour have been very good in the middle of large struggle. Because it's there, it can be found, and it changes everything.
I love that I get to be the Good Keeper, the one who can give you good memories and say "Here, keep these, remember them. Write them on your heart and don't forget the story. It wasn't always so lovely. Remember? And yet here you were on that beautiful day, living in such a good series of moments. Store them up in your soul."
May the feelings of whispy youth be found in you even now, may the experience of age make you gentler not brittler, may your relationships be real and trustworthy and open, may your body move about and do tasks that bring peace and happiness to your life -- even if they're hard, may you think sharply and be honest with yourself and others, may you come into your story and be ready to fight off the joy-thieves, may you rest and play and laugh and eat and graduate and work and love and marry and stay single and have babies and adopt and be alone and try and shower when you smell. May you care, and may you find shocking goodness along your journey.
On that note! Someone needs a special treat to make their week a little sunnier. Giveaway time!
TO ENTER: THREE WAYS
1) Leave a comment on this blog with an imaginary title for your book, if your life were turned into a novel. Be creative and fun! Feel free to explain your choice.
2) Tag up to five friends (each friend counts as a vote) on this post on Facebook, and share something particularly kind or true about each them that not everyone knows in your comment. Make them feel special! And alert them to the giveaway at the same time!
3) Tag up to five friends (each friend counts as a vote) on my post on Instagram, and share something particularly kind or true about each them that not everyone knows in your comment. Make them feel special! And alert them to the giveaway at the same time!
Each option counts as one vote, but feel free to do them all! There are eleven possible votes per person!
The giveaway will close on Friday, June 5 at 11:59 PST and the winner shall be announced with pomp and exclamations the following day. Winner may choose $250 to Anthropologie, $250 to Amazon, or $125 to Anthropologie and $125 to Amazon. Happy entering!