The Extra of the Ordinary 11/14/2021

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

It is a special time of year. And yes, I do in fact know how trite that sentence was, but trust me I am going somewhere.  While yes it is the beginning of some very major holiday celebrations it is also a time of year, for me at least, that special things occur even beyond that. For instance you may have noticed in my last blog, assuming you read it which may be a rather bold assumption on my part, I just recently went on a fall vacation. Part of the reasoning for the timing of that trip is because of the beauty of the season.  The color of the leaves has a significant part of the scheduling of the date for our excursion to my beloved mountains.  So, for me, the trip is a special occasion.  We also have as I mentioned, the more heavily celebrated festivities upon us in the coming weeks. By the way, where in blue tarnation did this year go? Is it just me that was pretty sure that it just started a few weeks back?  Did we have a spring? A summer? I’m not sure if I can remember more of two or three days of each. This could be a testament to my sad state of brain matter but then again maybe some of you feel the same (she said hopefully)?  Anyway, I digress.  I was writing of things, times and events that are “special”.  I wondered what it is that really makes something “special”, and hence we have the trail of the rabbit upon whence I am about to travel.

I suppose in the most basic sense of the word, something is special if it is simply something out of the ordinary.  Vacations and holiday celebrations are times we do, see and (God bless this one) eat things that are not what we eat on most days.  We don’t festoon our houses with décor every day.  We don’t put up balloons and ribbons for say an average mid-August Wednesday.  We don’t normally have parties and parades for days that we don’t deem of note. We don’t go to special locations to revel in the same scenery that is outside our front door. Well, on that last one I suppose we don’t.  Do some people like say that live in Hawaii go, say, to the Caribbean for vacations?  This might be another case of our 5oth state being a special exception to rules but…again…I have digressed.  So the question I am poorly attempting to pose in all my long-winded brain-to-paper spewing is this:  if we participated in “special” things all the time, would they cease to be special?  Is their lack of being the usual state of affairs what makes them special? As I type this I am pondering and am not really sure if I will or can answer this question.  I am also realizing that this whole blog may very well be a bit of a dump of random thoughts into the form of letter on screen.  But, if you’re a regular reader this shouldn’t alarm or off put you too much since this certainly will not be the first time.

I am pondering what would happen if one made the “special” more average by indulging in it on a regular basis.  For instance I adore Christmas. I mean I love absolutely everything about it.  I love every aspect of the celebration from parties, to decorations, to foods, to plays and whatever else you can come up with that I have forgotten.  However, if I had Christmas-y goings on every day, would I grow weary of it?  Would I still love it as much as I do?  Look at me posing difficult questions to myself! Upon further thought, I do think I would still love it but, it might take more work to maintain said affection.  I might have to go to special efforts to keep it “special”.  I would have to create new traditions, and keep changing décor and really who knows what else to keep it festive.  So maybe it really is the waiting all year that makes the special what it is. If I am going to have to work at keeping it “special” then is it really?  The question makes me furrow my brow at my own thoughts because I am adamant about my love for Christmas and I feel like I am challenging my devotion.  You can’t see my face right now but I promise you I am concreting in those brow furrow wrinkles as we speak.

Maybe it’s a case of the anticipation is almost, yes I said almost, better than the moment itself.  I have heard it said that that moment right before that bite of your favorite food might be better than the bite itself. I must say as food lover I don’t know that I can quite get THAT on board with the concept but I do see what they mean.  The mind elevating a coming event might put said thing on a level even beyond what it truly would have merited in reality. I don’t know.  I love going to the mountains and I think if I lived there it would never get old, but then I don’t live there so can I truly know?  If I make the extraordinary ordinary, it seems to me that I can’t even truly evaluate it anymore because I have edited the extra.  Well, there you have it. I guess I just answered my question.  It does seem to be that if you took away the uncommonness and distinction of something “special” it does cease to be just that.

So, in closing this probably incoherent pile of words that I have thrown at you, I guess I say thank God for the uncommon, the unique, the distinct, the unconventional and the different.  Whether it be food, event or even a frame of mind, these are what give us those moments that our hearts beat faster for or that cause smiles to burst onto the most downtrodden of faces in anticipation.  We all love something that causes us to look forward with excitement.  So today I will not tell you to find the value in everyday life, though it is there and utterly worth celebrating.  Today I say I am overjoyed that we have the exceptional moments. Today let us all be thankful for those times that we know are coming when something magical happens.  Let us revel in watching the clock or calendar as they approach.  Let us not wish our lives away but let us simply look to the future with joy.  Being surrounded by the ordinary will only add to the enchantment when the extra arrives.