Practicing My Peace
Two weeks ago, I panic hung floating candles on my front porch. I had extra and didn’t know what to do with them, so to the porch they went! I spent an hour listening to my favorite podcast, putting them up one by one in a pattern I thought would work. The sun was shining and it was pleasantly cool. After the last candle was hung, the ladder folded up and put away, I moved on with my day.
Later that night one of Kenny’s colleagues drove her kids by the house to see the floating candles. She saw them earlier in the day and thought her kids might like them. (I made sure to turn them on so that they glowed.) They rolled down the window to waive and it seemed like it made some little girls happy. Or at the very least, gave their parents something to do.
My heart felt light. What I thought was maybe a little silly, turned out to be not only pretty freaking cute, but a bit of happiness for someone else.
It goes without saying that the world is particularly heavy right now. It seems there’s no shortage of horrifying things to see and hear. Lots of things feel sad. It feels like the world should stop. Like, life should slow down so we can all grieve and gather collectively as humans. But, that’s just not how it works.
Going about business as usual feels “wrong.” But, I also know that if I sit for too long in feelings of incredible sadness and confusion, I’ll stop moving altogether.
But, those happy little girls got me thinking about why decorating has brought me so much peace lately – it created joy, it made an ordinary, empty porch completely magic.
I find immense pleasure in beautiful things. I love well curated homes and outfits that make me feel confident. I love the way the morning light filters in through the windows. I love these dumb floating candles over my fireplace, and it turns out, on my porch as well. What brings me joy is, in fact, totally unnecessary to survival.
But here’s the thing, these little indulgences and frivolities make life worth living. Especially when it feels like the world is on fire.
As a gal who has really big feelings, I’m learning how important it is to acknowledge how I’m feeling without letting them consume me. Since I can’t do my best therapy (running) right now, I am doing the next best thing: decorating.
I’m not saying that hanging floating candles from various ceilings is going to fix the world, but it certainly isn’t going to hurt it. And I have to believe that beauty and joy prevail in the end because the alternative is far worse.
What an incredible privilege to not live in crisis. Creating beauty in a world of hurt is how I will move forward.
