Gifted: A Meandering Martha Post

As far as I can tell, the New Year is a gift that has yet to be opened.  

It is a beautifully wrapped package that holds many surprises 

that I want to treasure for the rest of my life.

This idea brought to mind the words of wisdom I gleaned 

from that great thought provoking movie. . . Kung Fu Panda;  when Master Oogway says,

Yesterday is history

Tomorrow is a mystery

Today is a gift

That's why they call it...The Present

These words touched me. 

I can imagine Master Oogway in all his tortoise glory standing here beside me. (do turtles stand?)

I am a visual person, I see things very clearly. 

I suppose the term daydreamer might be used to describe this quality.

As a child I learned quickly, that it is not good to be a daydreamer.   

The terms, get your head out of the clouds, or come down to earth are ones I heard often.  

The problem is... I've never figured out how to change.  

Is it a possibility for 2010 (or 2011, 2012, 2013)?  

I don't know?

You see, when you are a daydreamer, you generally see things how you want them to be, rather than perhaps how they really are.
For instance, I recently found some beautiful wrapping paper, for my Chic (pronouced Sheik not chick) Mom-in-law, who's birthday follows Christmas.
When I saw this roll of glittery snowflaked paper...
I knew it was perfect, and thought...now that would be paper Martha Stewart would use.

You see in my daydream world, as long as I have the right wrapping paper. . .I can be Martha Stewart.  

So I'm torn, and wonder,  is daydreaming really all that bad.... 

when in an instant I can miraculously become Martha?

As I pondered this question, I realized I needed to continue wrapping.  

I needed to focus.

While I've been a reader of Martha Stewart over the years, even during the incarcerated ones,
I have, unfortunately been unable to master the art of wrapping beautiful gifts.

Perhaps it has something to do with my frugal nature.
I only have skinny curly ribbon, and I am unable to allow myself
to use the yards and yards of it needed to make magnificent Martha tendrils
which would cover and cascade down the whole package.

While I am  usually a  mathematical wizard,
for this particular gift I happened to miscalculate a little and had to add a strip down the center.
It would have to do.
My Martha paper was used up.

While taking a break from my Martha moment, 

I was curious to see what the dictionary said about my maladycondition? 

And this is what I found:

daydream |ˈdāˌdrēm| noun

a series of pleasant thoughts that distract one's attention from the present.

This definition came as no surprise to me.  

In fact it helped me to understand why the things I see in my mind's eye don't always turn out the way I had hoped.

Do you see it too?  My beautifully papered Martha package ended up differently than I had anticipated.  All those pleasant thoughts had distracted me from "the present".

And while I was envisioning (daydreaming as it were) a perfectly wrapped gift,
with cascading tendrils.
The reality. . . to my surprise . . . was quite different.

So while I continue to look forward to the New Year as though it were a perfectly wrapped gift,
I realize that sometimes life will throw you a curveball,
and that Martha paper, or no Martha paper, it's important to be able to think outside the box,
and perhaps throw a daydream or two in for good measure.

Have A Wonderful 2010, 2011!

I know I will
 I can just see it all now. . .

xoxo

Dana

PS Happy Belated Birthday to my Agronomist, who's present I still have to buy wrap.
      He is the one gift that has far exceeded my expectations,
      and continues to surprise me daily.
     He is a present I will treasure for the rest of my life.

     (with respect to the Agronomist there will be no mention of his "package" in this post script)