You know how the story goes. The king and queen wanted a child for years and finally they had their baby girl. They were overjoyed and immediately threw a party. In their excitement, they failed to invite one of the powerful fairies of the land. At the party, each fairy gave a gift to the little princess – beauty, kindness, goodness and all manner of wonderful traits. Then the offended, uninvited fairy crashed through the casement window and bestowed her gift – on the day of the princess’ 16th birthday, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. Everyone gasped and the baby princess began to cry.

The littlest fairy stepped up to comfort the baby. She had not given her gift yet. She was only a beginner in this fairy business, not skilled in magic. She could not undo what the spiteful fairy had decreed. It would be so. But maybe she could use her little magic to alter the outcome just a bit. She proclaimed the princess would not die, only fall asleep for one hundred years before being awakened by the kiss of true love.

I love that little fairy’s approach to the problems of life. She says yes to what is, what cannot be changed or is out of her control. Then she adds her own little twist to it. She accepts that she cannot undo the situation, but she is willing to put forth some effort to soften the outcome, to slightly alter the course of events and to beautify the story with love.

I have remembered this good fairy so many times. Always there are plenty of opinions, commands and ideas from the people we live with. Everyone seems to know the best way to do something, or predicts a negative outcome. Or wonders why this always goes badly for me or them. Seeing me, you would not think of a fairy at all, but it is my secret life.

As a twenty-something, I thought I wanted a Victorian house with tall windows and wide verandas. Later I thought I wanted a cute, tiny house in spite of it’s impracticalities. But he wanted a shouse with space to work on trucks and have a big group of people over. As it turns out, we built a biggish shop with a smallish house attached. It is a satisfying combination of the two ideas. He likes rustic, I like refined. So he does his rustic thing and I come along and hang the velvet curtains and set the table with the good silver.

I have loved old houses, newish houses, farm style, shabby chic, cottage style, thrift store style and now I love a shouse. It’s exciting to see what life offers and what I can make of it, how I can personalize it to be even better than something I would have imagined on my own.

No idea is set in stone. Even decisions that are already made can be touched with a bit of fairy dust and transformed to beauty and harmony. I don’t need to resist what is, or strike out on my own, or put up a fuss that I don’t get my way. It’s actually more fun to be imagine myself as a good fairy and get creative. I can change my opinion and hopefully it won’t take 100 years.

Some ways to sprinkle your fairy dust:

Clean up! Pick up the debris, file the papers, shine the window.

Add something – a bow, glitter, paint, curtain, potted plant.

Hide the ugly – curtain, screen, piece of furniture, a rug.

Arrange some flowers.

Put on your rose-colored glasses.

Wait and see how it turns out before despairing.

Pause and give people the benefit of the doubt.

I’m guessing things don’t always turn out as you expect either, no matter what project or committee you are working on. Even days that start out ordinary can take some unforeseen twists. Calm yourself. This is normal. Try the good fairy perspective. What a privilege to be the smoother of sharp corners, the beautifier of the ugly, the enhancer of the ordinary! Where are you going to sprinkle your fairy dust today?

–Liz

For more like this:

Coming Clean

Clutter and a Bedroom Switch

Ways to Practice Contentment