Glitter
“All
that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the
old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the
frost.”
J.R.R.
Tolkien
I've been looking for a
small jar of paint-on glitter for a wall-hanging I'm doing. Can't
find it anywhere, though I know it's here. As I was searching my
brain this morning, assessing where I've looked, where I haven't,
where it still might be hiding, the phrase, “all that glitters is
not gold” popped into my mind. Does that happen to you? Do little
snatches of long-forgotten catch-phrases jump into your awareness
unbidden? Where did that come from, you may wonder. Well, when it
happens to me these days, I jump right back—I Google it. That's how I found this little gem from Tolkien this morning.
My sons tell me it's from a song in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
We are naturally drawn to
glitter, aren't we? We relish celebrity, are endlessly curious about
royalty, envy wealth and all the richness in lifestyle it
brings. Lots of times, we are so absorbed in what is shiny, we don't
even notice what else is in the picture, behind the scenes, so to
speak. One thing I like about PBS, is that they often produce
documentaries that feature not just the stars of their productions,
but all the support staff. Who's behind the camera, who's making the
costumes, who's applying the make-up and creating the authentic
period set. These people may be invisible to us, but the show would
not happen without them.
There are millions of
“gold” people in this world; people we rarely see or think about,
who simply go about their days providing the things we need. I think
about the road crews who pick up litter, who lay down asphalt, fill
pot-holes, and who, even when the heat-index is 110 degrees, are out
there making our lives easier. And the bread-makers, cooks, all those
ladies in white aprons and gauze hats, who put chickens on the
rotisserie spikes at the supermarket, and all the other unrecognized
folks who just make life better for all of us. They may not glitter,
but they are sure enough gold.
Recently, someone said
that their sons “would never amount to anything,” because they
have not settled into one career path and stuck with it, whether
they liked the work or not. That person apparently did not realize
that the average millennial will have at least five career tracts in
their lifetime. All who wander are not lost; some of us are meant to
wander. Our souls require it. The Wanderer is an archetype who moves
from place to place, gathers stories, enters into other people's
lives and changes their dynamics, and then moves on. They are
necessary change-makers, not lost souls.
Celebrity is great, I
suppose, but it is rarely earth-shifting. The roots of celebrity are
fickle and shallow. It comes and goes, sometimes in the twinkling of
an eye. What is deep-rooted and wizened, without being stagnant or
rigid, is the wisdom gained from a lifetime spent listening to the heart's
guidance. Your heart's guidance, and no one else's.
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment