Elizabeth Taylor was born with an eye defect called distichiasis. She didn’t open her eyes until she was eleven days old. When she did, doctors pointed out the defect to her mother—Elizabeth had an extra set of eyelashes. Those extra lashes became the frame for her unusual violet-colored eyes and contributed to making her one of the most beautiful movie stars of all time.
Comedian Damon Wayans was born with a clubbed foot. Until his parents could afford the surgery to correct it, he was bullied and teased by other kids. It was during this time that he began to use humor to befriend others and deal with the pain of his condition.
Queen front man Freddie Mercury was born with four additional incisors. He believed that the extra teeth created more room in his mouth, giving him a wider vocal range. This is debatable, but Freddie’s teeth did give him a unique way of pronouncing his words and holding his mouth, which contributed to his charismatic style of singing.
And me? I was born with asthma. My parents learned to identify the triggers for my asthma attacks, and as they did, my world shrank. I couldn’t laugh too much, cry too much, run too hard, get too hot, or get too cold. I spent most of my time inside, watching my brother and sisters do the things I couldn’t. But I hardly ever minded because I found a way to make my world bigger—I learned to read. Through the characters in books, I lived all over the world, experienced joy and sorrow, learned about romance, and solved mysteries. I didn’t know it then, but all that reading was making me into a writer.
I was born with another “condition,” one that I have fought against for much of my life. I was born with an extreme sensitivity to the world. Sometimes, I feel as though I can feel the earth breathing under my feet and hear the world’s heartbeat pulsing with mine. When the world beats with pain, so do I. When the earth breathes in joy, so do I. I intuitively know when someone is hurting, and I feel their pain almost as intensely as they do. I’m easily hurt—one careless word can devastate me. On the other hand, I’m extremely attuned to beauty—in words, in creation, in music—beauty creates a rhapsody in my soul that renders me almost speechless.
I used to hate this sensitivity and often asked God to take it away. I didn’t like feeling so much. I didn’t understand why the world seemed to hurt me so much more than it did “normal” people. Walking around with my heart so sensitive and vulnerable made me long for numbness. Feeling other people’s pain so deeply often made me physically ill. I’ve finally realized that this sensitivity, coupled with the mental library that I built because of the limitations of asthma, not only made me who I am but gave me a purpose—to write about the things that hurt or bring joy to my sensitive heart. All week long, I have felt God pushing me towards a certain topic for this blog post. Maybe He laid it on my heart specifically for you, reading this right now.
The topic is this—possibility. Not hope—hope is more abstract, more slippery, harder to pin down and define. But possibility? Possibility is real. So real, in fact, that for me, possibility has a smell. When I was a little girl, I loved going to the lumberyard with my dad. We’d walk in, and I’d just stand there for a minute and sniff. The smell of sawdust, paint, and new carpet made me think of all the possibilities in that building. You could build a treehouse. Paint a bedroom. Make bookshelves. Everything seems possible when you walk into a lumberyard.
When I’m running low on hope or feel myself beginning to get worn down by the dailiness and routine of life, I think of possibility. I remember the smell of a lumberyard. And I feel a stir of excitement. Anything is possible in the next hour, the next day, or the next month. Right in the middle of a dull day, I might find a new author whose books I’ll love. I might hear a song that gives me enough joy to make my heart smile for a few hours. I could get a phone call or a text. Go on an impromptu drive where I discover new scenery. Write something that pleases me. Win a battle in my current fight for better health. So much is possible.
My sensitive heart feels the restlessness and discontent that many of us are experiencing right now. Winter seems endless. Spring seems like a distant daydream. Struggling through our routines strips us of joy, and we begin to think that this is how it will be every day for the rest of our lives. If you feel like this—like you know what every day will be like, that you’ll live and die in a dull routine of sameness—go to a lumberyard. Inhale deeply and think about all the possibilities there. Think about the raw materials you have—the ones that will help you to build even the faintest possibility into something substantial to stand on. On that platform of possibility, you can find your footing, reject the dullness of routine, and see your way clear to the next possibility. Because there is always, always, always a next possibility.
March is here. Spring will come. In the meantime, look for possibility. You have no idea what lies right around the corner. To me, that’s reason enough to keep going. I want to find out what’s next. I want to experience it. And every beat of my sensitive heart wants you to experience it, too.
“I dwell in possibility—
a fairer house than prose
More numerous of windows—
Superior—for doors.”Emily Dickinson
Share this Post
Comments 10
Hi there wonderful weblog! Does working a blog similar to this consider a massive amount of money get the job done? I’ve just about no familiarity with Personal computer programming however I hoped to begin my own website from the in the vicinity of long run. Anyway, if you have any solutions or methods for new blog homeowners you should share. I know This is often off issue but I simply wanted to inquire. A lot of thanks!
Your fashion may be very distinctive in comparison with other people I’ve go through stuff from. Thanks for putting up whenever you’ve obtained the opportunity, Guess I’ll just bookmark this website page.
Hey There.
Hello
YOU NEED QUALITY VISITORS FOR YOUR: poeticblessings.com ?
WE PROVIDE HIGH-QUALITY VISITORS WITH:
– 100% safe for your site
– real visitors with unique IPs. No bots, proxies, or datacenters
– visitors from Search Engine (by keyword)
– visitors from Social Media Sites (referrals)
– visitors from any country you want (USA/UK/CA/EU…)
– very low bounce rate
– very long visit duration
– multiple pages visited
– tractable in google analytics
– custom URL tracking provided
– boost ranking in SERP, SEO, profit from CPM
CLAIM YOUR 24 HOURS FREE TEST HERE=> ventfara@mail.com
Thanks, Blondell Hilyard
Spring does seem so far, but there is HOPE spring baseball has started and sprint car racing at Knoxville Iowa is only 6 weeks away awesome. There is all kinds of hope all around us, in a few weeks spring will wake up all the flowers and we will all be mowing our yards. Spring has always been special for me it is just so awesome when everything wakes up, it is like a new start and that is something we all need everyday. Think would you even get up in the morning even on a bad day if there wasn’t some small spark of hope, even when we fight depression there is always that one small spark of hope. I believe God builds that into us to keep us going. I know sometimes we are overwhelmed, but hope if we let it will get us going again. You mentioned the smell of the lumber yard that you like so well, on don’t laugh, I was a printer for a lot of years and I really liked it when I walked into the print shop everyday I enjoyed the smell the ink the paper and so on and it did help to get busy. Still really miss it weird I guess!
A little off the subject I am having a knee replacement surgery on Tuesday so I may be slower than usual writing replies, but I will write. They say it is no big deal, so we will see I guess.
I love the stories you used as examples of people turned a disadvantage into an advantage, there is always hope. I believe doesn’t the Bible say hope never fails, that is that spark that God gives us!
Take care, hope you feeling better👍
♥️♥️♥️♥️
Grover
Grover–yes, exactly! “When everything wakes up, it is like a new start.” That is such a perfect description of spring. I would never laugh about you liking the smell of ink and paper–I love the smell of old books so much that I jump-started an asthma attack last week because I was literally sticking my nose in a dusty old book. 😊 Thank you for what you wrote about hope. I believe as you do, that God put that spark in each of us. I will be praying about your knee surgery. Please don’t feel like you have to comment on any posts. Just take care of yourself and know that you’re being lifted up in prayer. Thank you for your encouraging words. Love to you.
As always, this is so good and just at the right time for me to hear. I think you hit the nail on the head about why I like going to a nursery (or any garden center for that matter) in early Spring. The smell of soil and fertilizer brings up so many possibilities for my garden. My garden skills have not caught up to my dreams of all the vegetables and plant possibilities, but it still brings that spark of happiness and possibilities in my heart. Maybe you’ve solved my mystery of why I like to plan and start gardens but hate maintaining them and harvesting them. 🙂
I’m so glad you found a voice for your purpose and “to write about the things that hurt or bring joy to [your] sensitive heart”! I know it helps me and others!
Oh, my Monty. You and the garden centers. I love going with you, watching your excitement over the possibilities, even though there are bugs and the humidity makes my hair enormous. Your excitement is contagious. And I, for one, love your homegrown tomatoes. Thank you for your words. You alone know what they mean to me.
Good morning Sparrow. Wow, strong, deep thinking topic. Humans, are born with defects, physical, emotional. The emotional ones, I feel, are enhanceD so to speak, going to school, being teased , or doing the teasing. I have been, at times. On both ends of this. For me, a Songs my Mom would sing, “keep your sunnyside Up”, “when your smiling”, my nickname at our corner Deli, “smiley”? Most times, I can keep my “sunnyside up”, Church, volunteering, etc. Physically, have been blessed, eyeglasses in elementary school,. But God has Blessed me physically. Emoti9nally, throug(
I’ve I have “dug my own holes”, but managed to “dig my way out”.For you Sparrow, Keep On blogg8ng, You will be victorious. ❤️TexGen
Author
TexGen–I like that “sunnyside up” idea. And of course your nickname would be “Smiley.” You are like Monty, spreading sunshine wherever you go. The world needs more of that. Thank you for your encouraging words, and even more, for the blessing of your friendship.