Just Because...Embracing The Weirdness

   I am at that age where I do things that suit me and not others.  Rather, I have come to realize at this late age that this is something we all should be doing.  The world has far too many ideas of what is "proper" or "accepted".  In "my" world, those have been tossed to the wayside.  Don't get me wrong on this as I am not referring to moral rights and wrongs but rather in our personal tastes...how we dress, how we decorate our homes, what we keep, what we discard, who we allow in our lives and who we decide are weighing us down.  It seems as if even those things are being decided for us which is something we should not allow.  How we live is no one else's business and we should keep it that way.  So...I am doing things "my way" and ignoring others opinions.

  Over the years, the Little Bayou House has been decorated in numerous ways to suit everyone but me.  I have taken in consideration how others see the place and how I would be judged if something was deemed odd.  Well, I am odd.  I admit to being a tad eccentric and a lot eclectic.  Let's face it...I am weird.  That said, I am embracing that weirdness as I follow the advice given to me years ago by one of Son's friends back when they were teenagers.  "Embrace your weirdness.  That is why we like you," he told me one time when I was feeling particularly down.  (By "we", he was referring to the others in a group of teenagers that were always at the place.) So, gradually I began to do just that.  The Little Bayou House (and I) have evolved into an anomalous entity full of color, oddities and moonbeams.  It suits me.

  Today, shelves were installed in front of some of the east-facing windows to showcase collections of colored glass pieces that have been stashed in cupboards.  Soon, the same will be done with the west-facing windows so the rising and setting of the sun can throw splashes of color about the room.  Mixed in with the glass will be numerous prisms and crystals so the walls will be of dancing rainbows.  It will be a magical mix of light and darkness and will be a happy place.

  Why?  Just because.  Why?  Just because we each need to express our individualism without worry that others will look down upon us.  That is something that is far too common and it is ridiculous to wait any longer to break free from the stigma of being different.  Let that difference glow...embrace your weirdness.

Beacons of Happiness

You just know the seasons are changing by the way the sun sets.   We are just barely into fall and I have come to the realization that winter is nigh on knocking at our door.  Times are changing..changing for whatever its worth..hopefully for the better.  Instead of my usual trek to the pier to watch the sun settle down behind the pines, I observed it from indoors this evening.  Feeling a bit weary from life's trials, I opted to sit and watch the light play through the windows.  One particular window put on a show spectacular.  This window has a broad shelf in front of it that over time has collected a number of glass baubles.  Each one is a different shape, size and color.  All of this set the perfect stage for the extravaganza brought on by the sun's last rays.  It occurred to me while watching this, that winter was not long in coming.  You see, when the sun sets in winter, it filters through these glass objects and sends showers of colored streaks along the opposite wall.  Only during fall and winter is the earth in the right position so the sun can shoot beams through the thick stand of trees on the west side of my house.  One path lends itself to being the channel for these rays to hit perfectly on this shelf.  All other times, the glass sits as just that..colored glass.  But..as fall progresses into winter, these same pieces become beacons.  Beacons of Happiness that liven up my dining room.

I had to smile in spite of my self as I watched the light.  This was one of those small things that can lift one's spirits and lighten the load tremendously!  My son, Michael, often marvels over the fact that I can be thrilled over the most mundane of things.  He always says "Mom, it sure doesn't take much to make you happy."  And in a way, maybe it does not..but, in another, perhaps more than anyone realizes.  After all..just think what it took to perfectly align the earth and sun in order to shoot beams of light those millions of miles through a tunnel of trees.  And to make those beams unfaltering in their direction so they hit the glass in the perfect spot.  Once the light hit the colored glasses, it had to be reflected just so to make the colors vibrant enough to have sent multi-hued shafts spilling across the darkened room.  Nah...it sure does not take a lot to make me happy.  I smile at the thought..at my own "Beacons of Happiness"!