3/28/05 RM Newsletter: Shakin' Things Up

Today's Quote: "Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we own to the play of the imagination is incalculable." Carl Jung


It started a couple months ago. I spotted a chandelier from a dozen feet away at one of my favorite shops downtown. Charmed immediately, my mind raced on how I could possibly talk Ernie into buying it for me—or even worse, how I could sneak it home and surprise (no…shock) him with it later. Made of black rod-iron—with a primitive brass rooster suspended between a couple of curlicued edges, it “spoke to me” and I knew I had to find a place for it in my home. Trouble was: it was non-electrified. Candles only. While this certainly added to its innate charm—for me anyway—I knew that it’d be a hard sell for my husband. That it’d be the deal-breaker. Too impractical. Too unnecessary. Too French.


I kept my eye on it, visiting the shop every week or so to be sure no one had bought “my” chandelier. When it went on “clearance” ten days before my birthday, I practically jumped out of my skin. I knew a New York dealer would snatch it up and re-sell it in the city for more than double, with the lucky buyer still feeling like she found the deal of the century.


When I not-so-subtlety informed Ernie that night—at his own birthday celebration—that I found what I wanted for my birthday, he retorted, with some annoyance, that it was highly inappropriate for me to talk about my materialistic desires while we were celebrating his big day. As (almost) always, he was right. I blew it.


Unbeknownst to me, Nick and Ernie strategized that week, and Nick went to the shop, bought the chandelier, had it wrapped, and hid it in our house until we celebrated my birthday the next week. Needless to say, I couldn’t have been more delighted that this charming new addition was about to be a part of our home.


The chandelier sat on the floor of my dining room for the next four weeks. What with a seminar I had enrolled in taking up my Saturdays, with back-to-back business trips for Ernie, and with taxes due, blah blah blah….we didn’t have a spare minute to get around to hanging it (not to mention the fact that we had no idea where to put it.)


So I started walking around the house, trying to figure out where I would put my way-too-charming, way-too-impractical, way-too-French chandelier in my home. And when I did so, I realized that I needed to shake things up. That we needed to re-arrange furniture, re-distribute decorative accessories, and re-hang our artwork.


The arrival of spring generally has this effect on me. Fresh starts. Puppies. Bursting bulbs. Injections of sunshine and color. So it seemed perfectly reasonable to make sunrise on Easter morning our deadline. Getting my whole family on board, we mentally got psyched up to spend the weekend getting the house all shook up.


We went into attack mode. We sorted and sifted, re-shelved and re-shifted, re-hung and re-made. With drill in one hand and hammer in the other, we walked room to room, with eyes roaming for new arrangements, new furniture and art placements, and new uses for old things.


It took us awhile to figure out where to put the rooster chandelier. Purchased with strong magnetic attraction yet with no idea of where to hang it, we found one only by hoisting it up in several different rooms of the house. With trial and error, by re-doing and un-doing, we not only found a spot that, once hung, made it appear as if the house was practically built for this chandelier; we finished the bulk of the “shakin’ up job” at the same time that our bodies begged for beds. And when the sun rose on Easter morning, we woke up convinced that the shakin’ up was all worth it.


Life is all about shakin’ things up. If we don’t shake ‘em up voluntarily—finding something for the house or the body or the kids or the spouse; or taking the vacation; or bringing home the new pet—that requires re-arranging the status quo—it seems that life shakes things up for us. Whether we’re ready for the shakin’ up or not. Husbands change jobs. Kids go off to college. Toddlers discover the joy of running. Houses burn down. Best friends move. Loved ones get sick. All of these shake things up. Sometimes this leaves you thinking: “I was perfectly happy unshaken, thank you very much!”


And yet sometimes shakin’ things up is exactly what’s needed. Shakin’ up forces you out of your rut. It gets your creative juices flowing. It stretches your imagination and requires you to “get out of your brain” (as I kept repeating to Ernie as we scratched our heads over the chandelier thing).


As spring fever starts grabbing you by the throat, try getting mentally—and physically—prepared for the shakin’ up that life will undoubtedly be bringing your way. Keep your eyes wide open for the infinite creative possibilities that living a “shakin’ up life” affords.


Despite the way that life has shakin’ up our world—what with it turning it upside down and standing on its head—it’s keeping us on our toes. Alert and ever ready. With expectant optimism for God’s best. Each day. All the way.


Praying for blessings on your week! Start shakin’!


Carolina


A Nick Note


Nick gave us another scare this week, with fever, shakes and
chills Tuesday night (after a rigorous session on the tennis
courts for varsity team tryouts) alerting us for the possibility
of infection and a trip to the ER at Yale Children's Hospital. He
wound up having a good night after all, and a trip to the doctor
Wednesday revealed good counts and the "go-ahead" for this
weekend's trip to the Regional Finals in Syracuse. With two of
his best buddies, a tank full of gas, and a couple of dollars in
their pockets, they traveled the four hours to the weekend of
their dreams.


Meanwhile, we have been opening dozens of cards and emails from
well-wishing readers all over the country. We know that you are
praying for his complete and total healing. We feel it! Thank you
so much for your many expressions of support. They have kept his
spirits high and those endorphins racing. As promised, weekly
updates will be forthcoming.

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A Quick Note


I will be conducting a seminar: "Your Purse is the Clue to Your Personality" at St. Mark's Nursery School in New Canaan, CT on Tuesday, March 29 at 10:00 AM. Using research on the four personalities as developed by Florence Littauer, I will help young moms discern their own personality by taking a humorous look at how the purse one carries provides the clue to personality type. We'll also explore how different personalities impact the family dynamic. If you'd like me to present this seminar to your group or club, please give me a call: 203 438-7164, or send me an email: emomrx@yahoo.com.