Wish

Molding With Play-Doh

Jeanna G1 Comment

I run summer camps for kids, and we offer the campers Kindness Coins when they exhibit behaviors that are respectful or honest, or if they’re being a good sport, etc. At the end of the week, the kids can spend those coins at the camp store.

This past week, we transported 10 campers from a low-income neighborhood to join in our camp. When it was their time to buy their prizes, one of the boys held up a container of Play-Doh and asked what it was. I about fell over. I answered his question, but he was still confused as to what one does with it. I told him that he can mold it into different shapes and objects. I ended up giving him a few containers of it, because I just couldn’t stand knowing he had never played with Play-Doh before!

My blog posts are intended to help readers rediscover their childhoods, or to create new child-like experiences, but I’d like to add a new intention to the list: encourage my readers to help children live their best lives!

There are kids who have nothing to play with. Play helps us to learn and grow, and to have curiosities about and motivations for the future. And don’t forget how much joy they can bring into our lives! And yes, Christmas is a great time to donate, but kids like toys all the time! Some places to consider: foster homes, day cares, and womens’ shelters, or organizations like The Toy Foundation, Stuffed Animals For Emergencies, or Toys for Tots.

Please consider donating toys. While they are molding little creations from their imaginations, we can feel good about helping to mold our youth into happy little humans.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

Jeanna G1 Comment

It’s Marci Gras! I did my part to make sure Fat Tuesday lived up to its name by making and eating an absurd amount of gumbo and cornbread. I’ve never been to the Mardi Gras festival, but I have been to New Orleans, and our hotel was right on Bourbon Street, and we visited the Mardi Gras museum to see the floats. I was also traveling with my 7-year-old at the time, so I had to be somewhat prudent. Anyhow, I was watching the news this morning about New Orleans and how there is no parade because of Covid, but houses and yards are decorated to the nines. One interviewee said, “The parade may be cancelled, but the spirit of Marci Gras cannot!” And that is when I got teary-eyed.

I don’t know about you, but I hope post-Covid celebrations rush in like someone opened the floodgates. Potential memories are being stolen from us. Sweet memories of passing out cupcakes on your birthday or Valentines to your classmates were erased like a chalkboard this past year. Dancing like nobody’s watching on a crowded amphitheater lawn is only a hallucination. Singing the school fight song with 109,000 other fans in the university stadium must have been a figment of my imagination. Hugging and holding hands? Only in our wildest dreams. Festivals, reunions, and play dates are all fictional chapters of our now boring lives. Gosh, I even fantasize about struggling to get the bartender’s attention during happy hour!

I hope when we become a herd again, we become immune to boredom. I hope we flock together and have a parade. A day of parades all over the world with singing and dancing, and everyone has a seat together at the grandstand with a perfect view of the spectacle. But the timing of these Mardi Gras celebrations will be reversed, because we’ve been abstaining for too long, as if we’d given up togetherness for lent. It’s time for the spirit of Mardi Gras that has been hibernating in our hearts to wake up, take a real good stretch, and let the good times roll!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

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Do you have recurring dreams? For the longest time my recurring dream was of flying. I would be walking along, and when I approached a crowd of people I would simply push off one foot and begin flying over them. My flying technique looked like the breast stroke. I thought maybe my dream was trying to tell me I was impatient, but maybe it really was a wish to fly.

One summer I decided to make my wish come true by jumping out of an airplane! There was a skydiving center at a small airport near where I was working at the time. One of my coworkers had his own chute and had made several jumps, so I asked him to let me know next time he was going. He said he’d go that day! Well, I’m not one to go back on my word, so I jumped in the passenger seat, and off we went!

I paid just shy of $200, put on my jumpsuit, shook hands with my tandem instructor, and off we headed to the plane. I had been on small airplanes often in the past, so I was fairly comfortable in the loud, tight space. Don’t get me wrong though, I had quite a few butterflies in my stomach. I was given a few brief instructions on what to do during various points in the dive, and then it was our turn.

I was on my knees looking out from the side of the plane and then we just tipped forward into a somersault. It was amazing! And so, so loud! The wind felt like it was rushing through me. We fell for a bit before he pulled the chute, and then the noise whooshed away. The rest of the ride seemed slow until just before we landed. At that point the ground seemed to rise up pretty quickly. We had a somewhat graceful landing as we slid in on our rear ends, and that was that!

Another coworker followed us to the airport and I’m grateful she snapped some before, during, and after photos. My pre-smile was a bit shaky, but my post-smile spread from ear to ear. That experience was one of the most exhilarating of my life! I am so glad I took advantage of the opportunity.

Interestingly, I haven’t dreamt of flying since then. I guess it really was a wish come true. Now I have dreams of tidal waves and tornadoes, so I’m not sure what to do about that!

So what are your dreams? Could they be wishes that your heart is making? And how will you make them come true?