12/8/10 Reverb Writing Prompt #8: Beautifully Different
Prompt: Beautifully different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.
Author: Karen Walrond
The Beauty of Different
@chookooloonks
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Oooh – this one is hard! This one forces me to say nice things about myself in a public forum, which, as I’m sure we all know, is tantamount to bragging! And bragging is bad.
Interesting the reservations we have about saying nice things about ourselves, isn’t it? It’s only very recently that I can voice such things aloud (although generally not to very many people). I can say (to the architect, at least), “You know, I’m really rather fantastic in the kitchen.”And it still makes me uncomfortable to say it just to one person, much less write it here.
BUT – on with the actual question(s).
What makes me different? I have so many sarcastic answers. Maybe because I am afraid to write what I really think, in case no one else agrees. BUT – no on really is reading these, right? So I’m going for it.
I think that my desire to entertain and make happy everyone around makes me different. Not different in that I don’t know anyone else with the same desires, but different in that not everyone has the same desires. If you are in my house, or at an event I’ve planned, I want to make you happy. I want you to be entertained. (I also want you to be stuffed full of food, because I have a dread that someone, some day, will leave a party I’ve thrown and be hungry. And that would be awful.) I am not obsessed with perfection. I don’t care if my decorations aren’t awesome, or my house isn’t spotless (obviously), but I do care that the food & drink are good and plentiful, and that everyone has an awesome time. I like telling stories & putting a humorous bent on them, even if that makes me look a little foolish.
I don’t know if this lights people up, or just fattens them up, but it is something that I truly enjoy (except when I’m 3 weeks post surgery, but that’s another story). I like planning things. I like inviting people from different areas of my life to mix and mingle. I like flitting between conversations making sure everyone is getting enough to eat and drink. I like hearing after that it was a great event/happy hour/party/class. It lights me up, that’s for sure.
Does this make me beautiful? Seeing people happy in my home makes me feel beautiful. Watching people delight in making their first mozzarella, or canning a jar of salsa, or realizing that jam really is that easy makes me glow. Seeing people enjoy my homemade salsas and guacamoles and cakes (I love making cakes – and am going to make one this weekend, just for the fun of it – let me know if you want some!) and other things gives me a very satisfied feeling at the end of the day. When it’s midnight, and I’m exhausted, and there are still people at my house not ready to leave the party because they’re having too much fun, I feel irritated satisfied.
I only wish I had more time for all of this. The teaching of kitchen skills. The gardening tips. The parties. Having people in my home, happy, makes me feel beautifully different.
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