Celebration

One of the social graces I somehow missed picking up in life is that of Celebration. Celebrators make this world a happier place, a place where others feel welcomed, noticed and valued.

I have friends who are so good at celebrating others, I just sit back in awe of them. They never go to visit a friend or relative but that they take something along: a loaf of bread, a few little flowers in a vase, a jar of homemade strawberry jam, a cross-stitched something-or-other. When you go to visit them, you leave with some little token of their celebration of you and how important you are to them.

It is a beautiful thing in life, celebrating people. It's something I'd like to do better at, something I work at remembering to do, and still too often forget in the pell-mell rush of life.

A couple of weeks ago my colleagues and I were sitting around the Round Table, and I mentioned that one of our faculty had decided not to take an invitation to head up a program at another university. Our students love him, and I can't imagine his department without him, so I was greatly relieved. Another one of our budget managers who oversees a budget that just won't mind its boundaries had knocked himself out this year to bring in his unpredictable area budget $44,000 to the good. Amazing!

"Send them baskets of candy!" said one of my colleagues. She's a Celebrator, the kind who actually manages to live with chocolate all over her office, as if a party were continually peeking around the corner.

Baskets of candy--well, what a great idea! I hadn't thought of that, but I know a good idea when I hear one. Give me a good idea, and I'll get 'er done. My assistant sallied forth with great delight to prepare a basket of candy bars for each of these men, and I wrote the thank you notes.

It's always a good idea to pause and take time to celebrate the victories and joys in life. After all, in "this old sinful world," as my mom refers to it, those victories and joys don't come along so often. I'd like to take time this year to notice them and rejoice.