Happiness is...being the first person to do something.

Or open something or see something or use something.

The first crack of the spine on a new book and the endless opportunities for love, mystery and adventure.
The blank slate of perfection as you tread carefully on a landscape of newly fallen snow.
The feel of crisp, clean sheets that have never before been slept in.
The knowledge that you've created something that no one else has ever envisioned.

This morning I had one of the most supreme experiences of all, opening a box of brand new crayons. It brings me instantly back to childhood, the joys I felt at a new box, all the pointed little tops perfectly arranged in neat rows like a parade of colorful elf caps (and just as magical). Oooh, the pictures that would be drawn, the coloring books that would be filled in, so many choices!

The satisfaction of wiggling that first crayon from its space, the colored paper crisp and clean and bearing its name like a badge of honor was priceless. Depending on how big your box was you could encounter monikers such as cerulean, dandelion, apricot, and timber wolf. (I used to always want a job naming colors; lipstick, paint chips, crayons, what a fantastic life!)

The next step down introduced you to blue-green, red-orange, blue-violet, clever spy disguises easily blend-able into either color family (this made arranging my crayons chromatically somewhat of a challenge, but I was up for it!)

Even in the smallest standard boxes you still had a rainbows worth of possibilities. The stalwarts; red, green, black, white, brown, blue, yellow, orange standing straight and proud, ready for whatever duty you had imagined for them.

And don't even get me started on the smell!

My creative process this morning was almost as satisfying. Coloring is a great stress-reliever, and I was pleased with the final results (nothing original, just an extra-large picture or two --Dora the Explorer, Mother Goose, Halloween creatures, dinosaurs--to adorn my bulletin boards at work, maybe one day I'll post them) but it was nothing compared to those first few moments spent savoring the perfection and potential contained in that little green and yellow box.

I'm off to NYC this weekend to relive another part of my childhood (details when I return) but for now do yourself a favor. Go find a box of crayons, buy yourself a new one if you can (or colored pencils or markers or even fancy pens if you'd rather) and take a moment to open it slowly, savor the beauty of its possibilities and then use what's inside to create something, anything. I promise you won't regret it!


WFMAD update:
October 8-10 min
October 9-0 min (took a Sabbath break)
October 10-20 min
October 11-15 min
October 12-30 min
October 13-35 min
October 14-20 min