Message in a Bottle.
[Art: *kmye-chan]
I’m lazily seeking out ways to balance out my Pitta nature a little bit (no, I’m not a hippie; yes, I’m familiar with Ayurveda; so sue me).
I tend to be impatient and to jump on people a bit when they don’t “get it.” I get pink in the face when I’m experiencing any kind of strong emotion, good or bad. I go on sudden kicks. I go off them just as violently. I think I may be unconsciously dismissive of people who don’t impress me or capture my interest within the first sixty seconds.
Lately I’ve been trying to think about the value of things that take time . . . and of sending out signals into the universe without knowing what the exact response will be.
Which is why I’m going to write a letter or make a collage this weekend and leave it somewhere for someone random to find next week. This idea occurred to me when I got Gala’s latest Cupcake newsletter, which challenged readers with the following mission:
Write an anonymous love letter. . . . It can be to anyone, anywhere. If you have a lover already, write to a friend, mentor, icon or family member who amazes you. It doesn’t have to be just words on paper—it could be pictures cut out & stuck together, a fantastic Photoshop creation or a video uploaded to Youtube. You don’t have to send it . . . but you should!
Her words got me thinking back to when I was in elementary school and used to leave secret messages on notebook paper folded up into little squares and then placed in a crack in a wooden bench on the way to school. When I was a kid the world seemed full of mystery, and while I never believed in fairies or any of that shiny fluffy stuff, I did have a kind of subconscious faith in synchronicity, coincidence, and fate.
Things didn’t always pan out . . . because there’s ugliness in the world as well as awesome. Some of the strangers that cross your path want to do terrible things to you.
But isn’t that all the more reason to turn yourself into a beneficent stranger leaving whimsical notes for others, to revive the magic and hope in someone’s heart, to be a little unworldly for a change?
Tarable replied:
I grew up living next to a river. My brother and I used to write messages and put them in pop bottles and throw them in the river - hoping someone in a far away place would find them and contact us and it would all be really exciting.
One person only ever contacted us and they lived in the same town as us - just further down the river.
Mar 20, 2008 at 6:37 pm. Permalink.
michelle replied:
I like this post. I was just talking on one of my blogs about taking time the other day. I was relating it to the act of eating and how I usually devour my food too quickly. Maybe, probably I am a pitta, like you. I too go red in the face when I am feeling strong emotions. And when I am working on craft projects, I tend to jump into and then taper off to where now I have so many unfinished projects lying around my house.
Anyways, I like note placing. I do that with my sweetie whenever I have to travel anywhere. I will leave post-its saying cheesy things hidden in the cupboard, fridge, even underneath the covers.
Mar 21, 2008 at 4:09 am. Permalink.
charlotte replied:
Hee. You sound just like me. Or I sound just like you. Whatevs - I love it
Passionate people make the world go ’round.
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:55 am. Permalink.