IN PRAISE OF THE EXUBERANT



And as you stand there

Sunshining all over our Rain Parade

Voice cheering

Toes tapping

Eyes dancing



Let us now praise you.



You, the mango-coconut in our vanilla world.

You, the red balloon in our blue sky.

You, the hooray-for-your-new-job (or hooray-for-your-engagement or hooray-for-your-wedding or hooray-for-your-new-baby or hooray-for-your-divorce) party-throwing friend.



Your door is always open

And don't think we don't take advantage of it.



Your heart is always open

And don't think we don't take advantage of it.



You have a particular kind of bravery:

The not-being-afraid-of-feelings kind of brave

The stand-up-and-be-counted kind of brave

The jump-off-the-high-dive (again) (naked) kind of brave.



We always know when you're in the audience, because

We recognize your laugh.



And as you sit us down and give us your full-beam attention and as you ask us for every detail of our latest adventure (how do you always lead us to the conclusion that our life is an adventure?) and as we, flattered by your unwavering, bright-eyed gaze, end up going on and on and on and on, we have to mentally waft away the annoying, fluttering thought,

"Yes, but: Who takes care of you?"



Because we know that underneath the nonstop carnival there is a lot of

Damn hard work and that some of

Your sparkle

Is the glitter from the parts that got

Broken.



We've seen you fall and get right back up and assumed that it must not have been that much of a

Tumble but the truth is that

You alone have the

Strength to Rise.



And so it is from you we learn that while we may not always

Feel happy

We can always feel

Joy.



And as you Gush and Exclaim and Twist and Shout and Wiggle with pleasure and Yelp and Hoot and Swear out loud and Burst into tears and Rush in and Hug and Holler across the room in a way that some might think of as

Embarrassing, we

Bask in your fearless conviction that

No human experience is unlovable.



Thank you for that.



So let's break out the

Sequins and the feather boas and

Have dessert first and

Grin at strangers and

Let's do the Hokey-Pokey and really

Put our Whole Self in

And order one more bottle because it's so nice to all be together



Under the Abundant Sun.



© 2009 Samantha Bennett