When my youngest daughter was about three, she fell in love with glitter. Everything had to have glitter on it. Every art project she did had to have glitter glued onto it. The brighter and shinier the glitter, the better. Confetti was okay, but glitter, glitter was her absolute favorite. When she was working with glitter her eyes would be wide with wonder and whole face would light up with joy.
Now, anyone with kids knows just how insidious glitter can be. It gets everywhere, and I do mean everywhere!
No matter how many precautions I would take, I would continue to find glitter for days, even weeks after an art project in which my daughter had used glitter liberally, and in some cases aggressively. I would find glitter not just on the floor or table, but sometimes even in my daughter’s bed or even a mug in the cupboard or at the bottom of the washing machine.
Once my husband’s uniform came out of the washer with glitter scattered across it and we had to use a lint roller to get the worst of it off. Even so, his commander ended up commented jokingly, that hot pink glitter was not a part of the dress code when some of it fell out of the cuff of his pants.
The thing is, as frustrating as cleaning up the glitter (and finding it in such random places) was, it never made me mad. In fact, when I’d run across a pocket of it; find it clinging to the bottom of a shoe or I’d shake out a towel and find some sparkles flying through the air, it would make me grin as I recalled the pure joy on my daughter’s face when she was up to her elbows in glitter and glue.
Even today, I can’t open a Christmas card that sheds glitter without being reminded of those messy, but oh so joyful days, which is why I’ve been having such a blast on Meta’s Threads today.
Today, every Thread posted that has “Happy New Year” in it automatically animates and throws handfuls of confetti across your screen when you “like” a post. I’ve been clicking on every Happy New Year’s thread I can find just so I can watch the animation because it brings back those joyful memories. It makes me smile, and I can use all the smiles and happiness I can get.
The origins of confetti date back to at least to the Middle Ages and were taken from pagan festivals when people used to toss things like sweets, coins, grains, or fruit into the crowds at weddings, births or other happy celebrations to request fertility and/or good fortune from the god/goddess for the person or couple being celebrated. The word confetti itself is taken from the Latin WORD “confectum” with “confetti” being the plural of the Italian word “confetto” which means small and/or sweet in memory of the sweets and small gifts that would be tossed into the crowds.
Today’s confetti is usually comprised of either tiny pieces of paper or tiny shapes made out of metalized PVC. But it is still used as a celebration of a happy event, a subconscious reminder of a time when it was usual to make requests to the gods for blessings and happiness.
I know that the world seems to be a mess at present. There are so many horrible things happening, so much hatred and division, so many people suffering, so many devastating natural disasters. Sometimes it seems as if we will drown in discouragement and we want desperately to blame someone, anyone for what is happening. When the world seems to be falling apart, the last thing we feel like is getting elbow deep in glitter and glue. What is the point after all? Aren’t there more serious things to be worrying about?
The truth is, that if ever there was a time for glitter, it is now. Yes, horrible things may be happening, and no amount of glitter in the universe can disguise the problems, but if we take the time to use mental glitter to highlight the little joys in our daily life it will cause them to stand out; bright beacons against the dull gray sky of reality and those highlighted moments will bring us joy.
Happy New Year to you! And may the gods of glitter bless your house with regular reminders of happy days gone by and the hope of even more joyful memories yet to be made.
JustSteph 12/31/2023
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