Reflections

In the home I grew up in, we had a large front room window my mom would adorn with her annual Christmas scene. I’m not just talking about strings of colored lights, spraying snow on the glass or stenciling Glass Wax patterns; she would come up with a theme, make sketches and work out the logistics. Then the creation would come to life with her paints, brushes and colored films. I always loved these scenes. When I was a child, it wasn’t Christmas until the window came to life.

My favorite scene was when she created the Nativity, birth of Jesus, out of a stained glass patterned contact paper. It was amazingly beautiful. Her windows were always labor intensive, but this intensity allowed my mom to share, not only her artistic talents with the neighborhood, but her love of Christmas and what it meant to her. More importantly, with each window she created a unique gift of passion and love of Christmas for her young children.

Viewed from the inside or the outside, day or night, these windows tiptoed into my memories of a child at Christmas. I may not remember all of the gifts I received over the years, but I will never forget the Christmas windows of my youth.

As we close in on this holiday season, one never knows what it is others will remember in the years to come. But as I reflect on this subject, doing one thing that stands out for you, may very well stand out for others. It's not about running around hither, thither and yon, or pushing yourself beyond your limits to create a perfect Christmas. Pick one thing and do it with passion and love.

Wishing you and yours all my best this holiday season!

Christmas reflections courtesy of Chris Costes

How to Finish Something You Started

From the 1940s through the 1960s souvenir shops across the United States sold drinking glasses to commemorate where you have been. As roads improved to turnpikes and freeways, families began driving around the country on vacations. My friend Ann was one of many who collected these souvenir glasses.

Ann was telling me she recently was in an antique store and found two state souvenir drinking glasses she had been looking for. She told me that back in the 1950s she would collect a souvenir glass from each state she visited but had failed to collect the last four. Over the years she would look for the missing glasses from time to time when frequenting antique stores, but had not found them until the two she recently bought. Ann was saying she wasn’t very good at finishing things and this was one thing she really would like to finish; after all, she had been to all the states except one! We talked about looking on EBay and guess what she found⎯yes, the other two glasses she needed to finish her collection. The first glass she ever bought cost her 39¢. The last two were somewhere around $5 each and shipping cost twice as much. The other day Ann proudly showed me pictures from her collection. I asked if she was going to display them and she said she had boxed them up for her family to have someday, and that she was just happy to finally complete something that she started for a change.

It wasn’t so much about the collection anymore for Ann⎯it was something personal. I think it is the same for many of us. We may be good starters but how many of us have Ann’s perseverance and determination to see “it” through? How do we become better finishers? Here are a few things to consider:

1. What is the purpose? Determining how committed you are to something gives you a chance to be selective. This may be hard to hear but YOU cannot do everything. It will only drive you crazy!
2. Are you passionate enough to see it through? If the passion ain't there baby, forget about it!
3. Is perfection getting in your way? Perhaps it is good enough! A little flexibility here goes a long way.
4. Is it necessary to finish everything you start? NO! We all know how it is when you lose interest and motivation. So, I am going to give you permission to drop it, forget it or move on if you want to.
5. Do you value whatever “it” is? If not⎯don’t start in the first place!

I loved Ann’s story and the excitement she expressed. She obviously valued what she started and was committed to seeing this project through. What may have started on a vacation long ago became a nearly 55 year journey. But the story is not over yet⎯she still needs to make one more trip to that one state she hasn’t been to. I think a trip to Alaska will be in her future.

Is there something you started at one time and never got back to? Perhaps Ann’s story would be a good launching point for you to finish on. I know it has me thinking...

Photo courtesy of Country Living

© Copyright 2011 Michelle Clark

Why Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Poorly

A comment from Renee Quistorf on the November 22 post, Holiday Attitude Shakeup, got me thinking. She mentioned something she was told by a therapist, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” Initially, I tried to grasp what the therapist was really saying, or what it might mean to me. In some circles, I am probably known as a perfectionist⎯yes it’s true! Now, perfectionism is another topic for another time, but hold on to that thought. Let’s just say I am aware of this particular issue and work hard at accepting what is⎯as in it is what it is. Nice how I worked that in, huh! Continuing on…

So, considering doing anything poorly was not on my radar. Poorly brings up words like badly, inadequately and unsatisfactorily. Those are not words a perfectionist brings to the table. Then it hit me, are you good enough? Now, that is a question I have asked myself many times over the years, and my answer has always been⎯YES, damn right I’m good enough!

I’ve always loved participating in various sports. As a kid I knew I wasn’t the best, but I was good enough. The teams I participated in didn’t always win and I didn’t necessarily cross the finish line in first place, but I was good enough. I was reminded of this as an adult when asked to compete in team triathlons when I was in my thirties. I swim laps in a pool⎯I’m a swimmer. Put me in the water and I just go. The owner of the gym I worked-out at was putting together a team for a local triathlon competition, and asked if I would be interested in the swim leg. I had never done anything like that and wasn’t really sure about swimming in a sea of people. The distance was not a problem for me so I told him, “I’m not fast, but I’m steady. I won’t necessarily be in the first group, but I won’t be in the last group.” As I stood in a mass of humanity at the edge of the lake I heard myself saying, “What was I thinking?” As the gun fired, off we went. I was slapped, kicked and swam-over. I lifted my head to get my bearings and saw that most people were not really swimming at all. So I stuck my face back down in the water and slapped, kicked and swam over as many people as possible. When I finally made it out of the lake, there were a lot of people left behind me. In the end, the team I was on finished in first place! Not too shabby for “good enough,” or perhaps I felt it was something worth doing whether I did poorly or not.

Renee’s comment reminded me how far I have come since my triathlon days. I am accepting who I am and whatever I do⎯even if perfect doesn’t enter into it. I still hear the sound of fingernails on a blackboard when considering the word poorly, but good enough works for me. Being good enough has allowed me to try the unknown, swim through a mass of humanity and step off that cliff and fly. In the end, at least I tried. It is in the trying where we get out of our ruts, it is in the trying where we learn more about our potential and ourselves. Being good enough allows me to simply be. How about you, are you good enough? If it is worth doing, is it worth doing poorly? Think about this…one man’s poorly may just be another’s infusion of light. Thank you Renee for reminding us of this.

© Copyright Michelle Clark 2010