Color Me Joyful

Yesterday, a friend of mine shared a story of a recent visit to see her mother-in-law. They were preparing dinner, and her mother-in-law went to the pantry to get a can of green beans. She found a can, examined it, and then said solemnly, "This can of green beans expired in 1996. As soon as I retire, I'm going to clean out this pantry." Then she placed the can back on the shelf!

I share this story, not to judge her, but because I can relate to the feeling of waiting for the perfect moment to arrive before tackling an overwhelming project. The problem with this attitude is that we end up Waiting for Godot, and that perfect moment may not ever arrive. Never mind that the longer we wait, the more daunting the task becomes.

Our Godot has been an addition on our house that we thought we'd begin as soon as we moved in over two years ago. Because we thought we would immediately find ourselves under construction when we moved in, we painted our house almost entirely one color. We thought we would do the actual decorating once the addition was complete. So now, over two years later, our house still looks like we're waiting for an addition that may never arrive.

Since I've been Inspired by NieNie, I've decided to stop waiting for the addition, and to start painting and redecorating our home, one room at a time.

I've been pleasantly surprised by how much joy a little bit of red paint can add to a home!

Anticipating the addition, May 2006

September 2008