It's National Wear Something Gaudy day! (Do it!)
What will I be wearing? Something like this:
Crystal Collier is a cheese-loving blogger & author who pens out funnies, deep thoughts, and book giveaways. She's the author of the Maiden of Time series, a 2012 winner of PitchWars, and a 2016 IWSG writing contest winner. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.
The third book in her Maiden of Time series releases November 1, 2016. Find her and her books online.
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Cheese makes me happy. It's my THING.
You have a thing too, so what is it? What makes you happy just thinking about it? What brings you fulfillment or sets you apart?
In the marketing world, we're told to brand ourselves so we stand out. (That was never my intention, btw, I just love cheese.) I think in life we do the same thing. When we're young, we search for what it is we love. Sometimes that shuffles us into categories or cliques. The older we get, the more that thing begins to define us, to shape us--not because we relinquish control, but because we build our lives to encompass it. (I'm not talking about sociopolitical issues.)
My other thing looks something like this:
I haul 4 kids around with me everywhere. Each individual personality teaches me so much, and they've completely changed my outlook on life. They also challenge me well beyond where I thought my sanity line stood. Each one provides me the opportunity to be fulfilled through service to them, AND each is growing my capacity. (That shaping thing really comes into play.)
However, it seems like the predominant mentality these days is for people to look down their noses at large families--like the parents couldn't figure out birth control or are single handedly trying to bankrupt the country. (Because those kids will have to end up in poverty due to neglect or something, right?)
I have news for those people. SOME OF US LIKE BIG FAMILIES--and man do they keep things interesting.
But they're not for everyone. Obviously. ; )
So here's your permission today. Love your thing. Let it define you. Don't apologize for it or diminish it because your neighbor feels differently. Bling proudly.
Are you blinging your thing? What bling would you be wearing today if you could express yourself on your sleeve?
Crystal Collier is a cheese-loving blogger & author who pens out funnies, deep thoughts, and book giveaways. She's the author of the Maiden of Time series, a 2012 winner of PitchWars, and a 2016 IWSG writing contest winner. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.The third book in her Maiden of Time series releases November 1, 2016. Find her and her books online.
That first necklace, while gaudy, is really cute. And I love your family necklace!
ReplyDeleteYou like the cheese, eh? Here's the clincher, other than my family ring and wedding ring, I almost never wear jewelry. :)
DeleteThose are so cute! I have a tendency to do this completely by accident. Whether it's my T-Rex earrings or my octopus necklace, I usually broadcast my thing pretty loudly ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love it! That's the only way to be.
DeleteCHEESE! The family necklace is precious. I do have a rainbow bead bracelet that my son made me over the summer I could wear today. Gaudy, yes, but so much love in it!
ReplyDeleteAw! Such a sweet bracelet. The kids have made me several things that through the years and I treasure each.
DeleteI am nodding my head along with all you wrote. I love my big family too (I have 4 boys). I have heard it all- did I know about birth control; was I trying for a girl...all along with that insinuation that I was stressing the planet with my family.
ReplyDeleteI think the only groups who might get more input than we do are people with only one child or those with none. I suppose people just can't understand anything outside the norm.
RIGHT!? We had the single child issues too because there are 4.5 years between our first two kids and everyone just assumed we were "that" couple. It always baffled me when people would say thing and I had to tell them, very kindly, that we had been trying to have another child for over 3 years. It just brings home that we all need to be a little less judgmental, eh?
DeleteBoth of our sons have large families, and I wanted to have a dozen kids from the time I was a kid myself. Alas, the doctors thought otherwise, so I "adopted" our kids' friends, taught Sunday school for a bazillion years, ("adopting" those kids, too) and did a lot of mentoring, substitute teaching, and tutoring. Worked for me. But you should NEVER have to explain the size of your family. I think it's awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a "blingy" kind of person, but I DO wear some pretty blingy pieces that the kids or grandkids gave me. (I remember being all dressed up to go to a Christmas gathering one time, and my daughter gave me a humongous felt and sparkle flower she'd made for me... so I pinned it onto my dress. If anyone wondered about it, they didn't mention it. If they thought it was tacky, tough. I mean, they would have been RIGHT, but that wasn't the important thing.)
I can hardly imagine a dozen kids! I grew up with 7 siblings and that was chaos enough. I tell you what, my mother earned her angel wings. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way. Those 7 siblings and families make for a pretty epic support net in this world of uncertainty.
DeleteSusan, way to be a mommy everywhere you went. I think that's epic!
Now I want to see a picture of that sparkle flower. (I'm sure it's long gone.) My hubby and I tease about how I'll be the grandmother in piggytales who wears mismatched clothes just to get people's reactions. I know I won't be like that, but can you imagine how much fun you'd have with that?
Believe it or not, I still have that flower, but it doesn't have much in the way of sparkle anymore. Funny thing is, my daughter probably doesn't even remember it, but it sure made her happy at the time. :)
DeleteNow that's epic!
DeleteHi Chrys and Tara - love cheese ... but I'd have eaten one or two of the trinkets before it got onto my wrist ... I am understated wearer of jewellery ... but when I remember I do wear it!
ReplyDeleteNow not being married and with no kids - I think I miss it ... but there are times when life is peaceful! Congratulations to everyone for bringing up kids .. cheers Hilary
LOL! If it was real cheese, I would totally do the same...or keep it for snacking throughout the day--like those candy necklaces.
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