Special Occasions

“Growing up, my mother taught me that lipstick should be reserved only for special occasions. Now, I wear it all the time. I am my own special occasion.”  ~Blythe Baird, from If My Body Could Speak

I do the same thing.

When I was growing up, my parents had a bottle of wine they were saving for a special occasion; when they finally opened it, it had gone bad.  They had a Christmas candle that was too pretty to light; it melted into a blob in a moving van and was thrown away, unlit.  They had plates set aside for a special occasions, and those plates remain unchipped because those plates remain unused.

So in my life I simply declare a Special Occasion and dive in.  I feel a sense of pride when I throw something away that has been completely and thoroughly used up.

Sometimes what we learn from our parents is what not to do.

We won't make the same mistakes they did-- we'll make different ones.  :D