::contemplating the enjoyed::

Traber lawn
If you were on 3East this past Friday night, you may have heard things like this...

*bouncing down the hallway* "guys, it's SNOWING!!!"
"Wait, is it really?"
"Let's look outside the window!"
"I've never seen snow before!!"
"This is so exciting!!!"
"It's so pretty"
"It'll probably keep snowing and be all white when we wake up tomorrow morning"
"If it is, I'm going to FLIP out!"
"Who wants to do the Kingdom Run??!" (*ahem*, Liz)

And so forth... Saturday morning arose and we found everything beautifully covered in white and the snow still falling thick and fast. My roommate gazed out our dorm window exclaiming about how pretty everything looks with the delicate fluffiness lighting upon trees, houses and cars. I've lived through many New Hampshire winters and even one Canadian one so snow isn't new to me but I am reminded of the awe and delight in the first snow of the year. Especially for all of the freshmen who have never seen or experienced it before. I want to live in that childlike innocence and wonder of His creation again. I love the simple enjoyment and delight in the moment. The moment of trying to catch snowflakes on your tongue, of zipping up your down winter coat, and of crazy Smaber traditions like running around in the snow with minimal clothing on. College life is great but also very strange at times.

C.S. Lewis in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, talks about the Contemplated and the Enjoyed and how you cannot think about something and enjoy it at the same time. You can switch between the two very rapidly but they cannot coexist within you at once. Once you start thinking about and contemplating something, you cease to gain pleasure from it. Likewise, while you are enjoying something, you cannot be thinking about it. I am reminded to live in the moment, to be enchanted with the right now and know that the time will never come back. I cannot leave and try to return to it but simply laugh and have fun in the present moment. I'll have time for contemplation afterwards like now. So how do I capture the contemplation of a highly satisfactory snowball fight yesterday afternoon? Perhaps through the age-old medium, poetry.

A handful of girls gather on the lawn
Beginning to pack the snow into balls
A few tentative lobs are made
The guys come out and
The intensity level goes straight up
We make a shifting circle
Watching the person to our right and left
Whoever is in the middle is dead
Weaving closer to get a good shot
Then fleeing away as the person tries to return the shot

Ducking behind trees
And running across the pristine whiteness
Dodging, laughing, throwing
Falling, sliding, tackling
A snowball to the face
Catching one in my hand
Ganging up on one person
Cold wetness seeping in everywhere

Attacking our innocent friends walking by
Every man and woman for him or herself
Someone gets whitewashed real good
We bury another friend in the snow as if he were dead
Hats and glasses go flying as the soft "thunk" of snow is heard
Laughter rings out and cries of revenge
Cold, wet and tired we retire, perhaps better friends than before
All because we had a snowball fight on a Saturday afternoon

Burying our beloved friend in the snow, see his arm?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

::everything stripped away::

Image
She trembles. "Please don't", she whispers. So much has been taken from her already. Must this also be torn from her? "You can do it, you can do it", she mentally recites to herself. She's made it through many storms before but nothing like this. They were always by her side before. They were her foundation and her safety net to come back to. Now, it isn't like that. She has no place to go. No place to hide. She can feel herself splintering into a thousand pieces. Her world has been shattered and she is at a loss as to how to pick up the fragments. Rebuilding seems like a gigantic task and she wonders if she really has the strength to do it. She concentrates on one thing at a time, compartmentalizing to survive the pain that is part of every day. "Why? What happened? What now?" The questions perpetually swirl in her head. Some days she forgets what happened and you can hear her laughter and see her smile. Other days, something triggers her an...
Read more

::courage, dear heart::

Image
This is the first post I didn't want to write. There have been posts that felt yanked out of me or that clawed their way to the surface. If I'm being honest, this is one I didn't really want to touch. Each year I choose a word to be my anchor, reminder of truth, aspiration, etc. and my word for 2023 was 'courage'. Writing plays a critical role in how I reflect and all the more so in how I look back on each year. But I haven't desired to look again on 2023 because I needed so. much. courage. I stared fear, heartbreak, uncertainty, and pain in the face in fresh ways. Yes, I made it through by the grace of God, but not without new scars and aching undercurrents that are still with me today. Why would I want to evoke it all again if I don't have to? Because that is courage. Courage  (n.) - the ability to do something that frightens one; strength in the face of pain or grief The root of the word, "cor", means 'heart' in Latin. Courage can also b...
Read more

fake it till you make it - adult edition

Image
Is it ever okay to fake it? Is "faking it" lying to people? If so, am I a terrible person every time I do it? These are moral questions I don't have answers to. Either I'm lying almost every day of my life or it's not truly a lie. We've all done it. We have all faked it till we made it, whether it's through a class, a day, a meeting, a season. It hurts, it's hard, it's not necessarily healthy but it is a regular occurrence. The funny thing is that pretending things are (mostly) okay usually works out in the end. I do still hold to the principles of honesty and integrity but I've also learned that sometimes you have to act like you can do it, pretend you feel it, or whatever it is, in order to do the good and needed things in life.  In college, I learned particular forms of faking it in regards to homework, relationships, extra-curriculars, existential and identity crises, and everything else in-between. And look, I made it! Out of college at le...
Read more