Friday, May 29, 2009

I Colored Outside The Lines Today...


I was mentoring a few kids today when we pulled out a brand new box of 64 crayons-with the sharpener attached! It took me back to when I was a young girl, and coloring really told anyone all they needed to know about a kid. For example, I always colored inside the lines. Not only that, but I always outlined what I was going to color, pressing as hard as I could to get a perfectly accented edge. Then, I would lightly fill in the outlined picture with the soft stroke of the crayon. My method never changed, and I never, ever colored outside of the lines. This pretty much describes who I became as an adult. Straight-laced, little "miss perfect". Not that I am ashamed-I love who I became. But, today, I wondered, "What if I let go? Just one tiny little bit. What if I decided messing up wasn't always the end of the world?". And, so it happened. I colored outside the lines today.

As we so liberally swept colors back and forth, sharpening the red, blue, and yellow ones for the next colorer, one of my kiddos all of sudden asked, "Mamta, what color crayon are you?". It took me by surprise as I looked up at him, and with wide eyes and a terrific smile, he feverishly anticipated my answer. What color crayon am I?, I thought. It took what felt like an hour to smile back and say, "You know, I think I am the yellow one. I like the sun, and I like being happy."

So, what color crayon are you? When you have an answer, grab a crayon and color outside the lines!

5 comments:

  1. Ohmigosh! I used to color the exact same way. Dark outlines... gentle, evenly colored middles... And as for crayon color - I could be indigo. Or midnight blue. But definitely not cornflower. And never ever periwinkle.

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  2. OMG Catherine Reyes. I absolutely adore you (and white apples). Cornflower makes me laugh. Not sure why. Midnight blue is gorgeous. I used to hate indigo until last year when it was THE fall color. Now I LOVE it.

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  3. Thanks! For some reason, when I was little, I detested cornflower. Its existence in my crayon box thoroughly offended me. But I couldn't get rid of it and live with an empty hole in the box. Btw, do you mind if I add a link to your blog on mine?

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  4. of course not! This is fun stuff, even if you are the only person to ever read it. It's just plain fun! How do I add a link (to yours, for example, if you don't mind either)?

    The new pics you put on facebook of Juni are fantastic.

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  5. To add blog links on blogger, click on the Layout tab of your blogger dashboard. Under the Page Elements section, you should see your blog layout. In the right hand column, there will be a dashed box that says Add a Gadget. Just click that and choose Blog List. Then just add all the blogs that you like. Have fun!

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