A Wink and a Smile
By: rubyslippahs
Tags: color, don't just stand there make something, family, Friends, hilarious children, Joplin, therapeutic children
Category: Good Life, Project, Uncategorized
| Aperture: | f/5.6 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length: | 35mm |
| ISO: | 400 |
| Shutter: | 1/2 sec |
| Camera: | DSLR-A300 |
Have you ever noticed how much more pleasant a simple trip to the grocery store or a restaurant is when you go with a smile? The cashier who has been on her feet for six hours is more pleasant, the waiter is more attentive, sometimes the food even tastes better.
Since May, I have been returning to my hometown of Joplin regularly, mostly to volunteer with cleanup or rebuilding, but also to visit with people I love more dearly than I can ever begin to pen in words. When I come here, I’m surrounded by kids who make being a kid a fine art. They wear me out, but it’s a happy exhaustion. “Let’s play that card game!” or “Let’s go swimming!” or “Help me with this science project, please!” or “I wanna paint your nails!” or “May I text someone on your phone?” (thanks, those of you friends who have been willing recipients of these often humorous texts). Everything is exciting, something is always new, something important is always happening.
Several weeks ago, I had the joy to lead a children’s service in church one Sunday. It was a bit on-the-fly, but whatever your religious affiliation or beliefs or question (or apathy, for that matter), there is often great but simple wisdom tucked away in the Bible. Jesus was a pretty hip guy: whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.
Whatever your kingdom of God, there is joy in the simple. It’s so easy to get frustrated with a passive-aggressive comment by a co-worker — or worse, an in-law — when it’s even easier to forget pettiness by picking up some shoe boxes, duct tape, aluminum foil, and K’nex and whip up a pretty impressive robot Valentine box. Robert Fulghum once had a brilliant idea of dropping boxes of Crayolas instead of bombs; and not those cheapo, blase 8-pack boxes, but the jumbo deluxe ones with 88 colors and a crayon sharpener.
Me? I’ve always got a pad of paper and coloring utensils at the ready. You never know when a kid needs to draw.
Perspective makes a vast difference in proportion to the effort it takes to change it, and it’s as simple as wearing a genuine smile to change your own view or someone else’s.
2 comments on “A Wink and a Smile”
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Duotone by Automattic.
This morning, because I have a day off from church, I’m playing on the computer, checking into blog sites I sometimes visit. I haven’t checked into yours in quite some time, and I am reminded again of what a fine writer you are. Keeping up with you on Facebook is not quite the same! Do keep on writing and blogging. As I’ve learned, writing is thinking. And you know that.
Shirley, this certainly means a lot coming from you. I like writing for myself, but it warms my heart to know that others appreciate it as well. Thank you!