31 Days of Living Art: Garland and Snow Angels
This is Day 5 of me blogging about living art, for those of you just now catching on :)
Two things about my day stand out to me.
The first part:
After work I went to my mom's house because she needed help hanging some garland and other Christmas decorations and we are like stand-in husbands for each other, so I helped her decorate and made sure she didn't fall off the ladder :). I got to help her make her house Christmasy and pretty, and I like to make things pretty.
We also got to talk a lot. This holiday season has been the first one since my parents divorced, and it's been hard and weird. We're trying to figure out what holidays will look like from now on, trying to find the "new normal" I guess. It was bittersweet helping her decorate because it was just another reminder that things are different now. (And I'm learning that I'm not very good at being a stand-in husband!) But instead of letting it be sad and depressing, I think we made it fun and made the most of the time we spent together tonight. That was part of the art I made today-I helped my mom make art, and I think we chose joy instead of sadness. Choosing to move forward, even in little ways like how the Christmas decorations got hung, instead of dwelling.
The second part of my day that is blog-worthy:
When I parked at my apartment complex tonight, I sat in my car awhile and stared at the snow on the grass in front of me.
I've seen a billion pictures plastered all over Facebook of snow angels people have been making. I haven't made a snow angel in forever. I can't even remember how old I was the last time I made one. And for some reason, I've had this urge to make a snow angel, but I just hadn't made one. And for no reason...I just hadn't.
Tonight I sat in my car staring at the snow, thinking of all the reasons I'd look ridiculous if I made a snow angel right then and there. It was cold. I was in scrubs and a coat...I would freeze. It was late. I was by myself, and making a snow angel is less ridiculous if you do it with other people, right? What if people drove by and thought I was weird? Heaven forbid.
I just really wanted to make a snow angel, but I felt ridiculous.
And then I thought about how this summer I had this burning desire to catch fireflies, and I would always swear to myself that I was going to just pull over the next time I saw a field full of fireflies and go catch some. And I never did. And I regret not doing that.
I try to avoid regret whenever possible, so I got out of my car and made a snow angel.
It took all of 30 seconds, if that. But for 30 seconds, I felt so alive. I was laughing, because I still felt ridiculous, but for 30 seconds I didn't think about everything I have to get done tomorrow, or paying bills, or what Christmas presents I still have to buy, or if I responded to that email or text message, or whatever else is constantly running through my mind.
I just existed in that moment, making a snow angel. And it felt great. It was a beautiful little part of my day.
Two things about my day stand out to me.
The first part:
After work I went to my mom's house because she needed help hanging some garland and other Christmas decorations and we are like stand-in husbands for each other, so I helped her decorate and made sure she didn't fall off the ladder :). I got to help her make her house Christmasy and pretty, and I like to make things pretty.
We also got to talk a lot. This holiday season has been the first one since my parents divorced, and it's been hard and weird. We're trying to figure out what holidays will look like from now on, trying to find the "new normal" I guess. It was bittersweet helping her decorate because it was just another reminder that things are different now. (And I'm learning that I'm not very good at being a stand-in husband!) But instead of letting it be sad and depressing, I think we made it fun and made the most of the time we spent together tonight. That was part of the art I made today-I helped my mom make art, and I think we chose joy instead of sadness. Choosing to move forward, even in little ways like how the Christmas decorations got hung, instead of dwelling.
The second part of my day that is blog-worthy:
When I parked at my apartment complex tonight, I sat in my car awhile and stared at the snow on the grass in front of me.
I've seen a billion pictures plastered all over Facebook of snow angels people have been making. I haven't made a snow angel in forever. I can't even remember how old I was the last time I made one. And for some reason, I've had this urge to make a snow angel, but I just hadn't made one. And for no reason...I just hadn't.
Tonight I sat in my car staring at the snow, thinking of all the reasons I'd look ridiculous if I made a snow angel right then and there. It was cold. I was in scrubs and a coat...I would freeze. It was late. I was by myself, and making a snow angel is less ridiculous if you do it with other people, right? What if people drove by and thought I was weird? Heaven forbid.
I just really wanted to make a snow angel, but I felt ridiculous.
And then I thought about how this summer I had this burning desire to catch fireflies, and I would always swear to myself that I was going to just pull over the next time I saw a field full of fireflies and go catch some. And I never did. And I regret not doing that.
I try to avoid regret whenever possible, so I got out of my car and made a snow angel.
It took all of 30 seconds, if that. But for 30 seconds, I felt so alive. I was laughing, because I still felt ridiculous, but for 30 seconds I didn't think about everything I have to get done tomorrow, or paying bills, or what Christmas presents I still have to buy, or if I responded to that email or text message, or whatever else is constantly running through my mind.
I just existed in that moment, making a snow angel. And it felt great. It was a beautiful little part of my day.
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