The Special Castle

It was a cold day in December when my son and daughter-in-law were visiting. I told them to take a few hours to themselves and I would watch the kids – ages 5 and 3. We baked cookies, watched a show on tv, did an art project but I was running out of activities and we had another two hours to go. My three-year-old grandson was getting restless so I had to think of something fast. That’s when I collected all of the toilet paper rolls in the house and dropped them on the floor of the living room.

“Build a tower,” I told them. After building a few towers, they started to get creative. They placed the rolls around the house and imagined that it was a castle. Each roll marked the entrance into a special room – the room of jewels, the dress-up room, the room of delicious treats. They lined the hall with extra rolls leading to each magnificent entrance. When their parents came home, the kids met them at the door and excitedly showed them around with a sweep of their arms and stoic smile mimicking British royalty. My son and daughter-in-law played along with wide eyes as they were led into each treasured room.

This is a perfect example of assigning a new meaning to an old thing.  We all have the ability to refresh our experiences and let them mean something new to us.   If toilet paper can signify the entrance into a sacred space, then we can be creative in determining what things mean to us rather than being the recipients of what people tell us we should feel.  Sometimes I find myself not caring about what people tell me I should care about because that’s what everyone expects.  It’s okay not to care or react to what triggers others.  We are free to imagine new meanings and discard beliefs from the past.  Let them go!  Good riddance!  Don’t let the door kick you on your way out!

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