Fancy! I use that word all the time. I could not tell you when my love affair with that word began, but I do know it’s been with me for quite a while now. My friends recall my use of it fondly, and often. I guess I never realized how much I pull “fancy” into my everyday life.
For those in the know, life has not always been so easy for me. I think for most people we go through a period of time where the bumps and twists of hardship grasp us firmly seemingly with the intent to never let us go. My bout of hardship lasted the better part of 15 years. Even saying that now it seems surreal. Fifteen long years in which my own personal hell was the trap I tried convincing myself “wasn’t so bad”. Fast forward a few years, and here I am, fancy.
While I place little value on material things, I recognize that I am blessed with many of them. The word, “fancy” flashed in my head as I recently unwrapped a new teapot I had purchased for our kitchen. We’ve been undergoing a kitchen renovation, and our gray teapot no longer matched the room. I keep my teapot out on our stove all the time as we are avid tea drinkers. When the box arrived yesterday, I opened it carefully. I was really so excited to reveal what I hoped would become a family heirloom teapot. As the bubble wrap fell away, this gorgeous piece of handmade copper art was in my hands. It was gleaming, and lovely, and just oh so fancy.
From Abuse to Fancy
As I sat with my first hot cup of tea made from my prized pot, I began to reflect on “fancy”. Why do I use this word so much? Why do I hold value in it? I mulled this over as I sat in one of my favorite chairs, hands grasped around my favorite mug watching the snow flurries fall gently outside. I realized in that moment of peaceful solitude that I valued “fancy” because I had lacked it for so many years. No part of my former life could have been remotely classified as “fancy”. My relationship with my first husband, abusive and toxic. I was always afraid that the little we had would be taken away by the men banging on the door looking for him so often. Heat and food were not to be taken for granted.
When that marriage came to an end, and I was faced with the task of raising three children alone I realized so many things at once. Among them was to teach gratitude to my children and to impart a blissful enjoyment of things large and small. Though I did not know it at the time, I do believe this was the trigger for my “fancy” obsession.
Gratitude is Fancy!
When I drink tea out of my favorite little, cheap mug…that is, Fancy!
When I put my feet into a deliciously soft pair of socks…that is, Fancy!
When I sit down to a plate of veggies arranged just so…that is, Fancy!
Watching the snow fall to cover my backyard…that is, Fancy!
And, yes…sometimes I open a beautiful new teapot and that is, Fancy!
I use that word to describe anything and everything that makes me feel really good because those moments are truly fancy. I think in those darker days of my recovery from abuse, I wanted to focus on the small, positive things. Now, all of those things small, large, and in between are fancy to me. We are surrounded by blessings each day if we care to focus on them. Many things that many people take for granted each day should be focused on. It’s only by focusing on those things that you learn to live a life of gratitude. When you feel grateful for everything, and everyone around you…life is truly, Fancy!
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