Skip to main content

A New Box of Crayons


As the calendar turns to August, the trees and grass and flowers have begun to look a little tired.  Advertising turns from summer fun equipment to Back-to-School sales.  Harried moms begin to look hopeful and kids are either excited or sad, depending on how they feel about school.  I was always one of the excited ones because I liked school.  I also loved summer vacation, but by August I was ready to return to a familiar routine.  I liked the new clothes and shoes that back to school time brought, but I was also excited to get new school supplies.  One of my favorite things was a new box of crayons.  I can still remember begging and pleading for the biggest box of crayons available.  When I opened my new box of crayons, all sorts of possibilities loomed------beautiful works of art (although I was never really blessed with artistic talent); graphs to color for math or science  projects; maps to mark with separate colors for each country in geography class.  The crayons were somehow symbolic of all there was to learn that year.

I recently opened a box of crayons as I was going through some items that were donated to my program.  I learned that the smell of those sticks of color can still send me back to that place of the promise of a good year ahead.  Will the child that gets those crayons be excited and hopeful and eager to learn?  Will he or she have people in his life to help him achieve those things?  Will the school year hold opportunities to create art and learn about our world?  As I sort through those donations, I pray the simple box of crayons will hold magic for that child as well.

I noticed something else as I studied that box of crayons.  All of them stood sharp and tall and neat, not caring who---or what color---was next to them.  White was next to pink, black and brown.  Blue was surrounded by a myriad of colors, as were all the rest.  They rest in the box in perfect harmony.  All the colors are necessary to make a beautiful picture, to create a map or scientific graph.  Humans could learn a lot of valuable lessons from a box of crayons.  We are all necessary to create the world we live in.  We may look different on the outside, but on the inside we are all the same.  When we learn to coexist peacefully in spite of our differences------when we appreciate the different things each of us bring to the big picture----when we learn each of us is equally important to the world we live in----we will be on our way to being as beautiful and harmonious as the box of crayons.  Opportunity and promise will lay in front of us as it did in the eyes of that schoolgirl in all those Augusts years ago.
Susie Kensil
Shelby County Domestic Violence Coordinator


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You don't have to be able to Dance to do Baskets

  Growing up in the world of dance, one of my favorite things to do each year is participate in The Nutcracker Ballet. My favorite part? Giving the audience a magical Christmas experience with the perfect setting of lights, music, glittery costumes, and refined steps by ballerinas. The audience is transported to a magical land of sweets that makes even adults feel like small children in awe and wonder. Of course, that’s just what the audience sees! What they don’t see is the months and months before hand! Long rehearsals, bandage wrapped dance feet, and stage and tech crews working tirelessly so that every detail before the final show is perfected. After several years, I have started comparing the Christmas Baskets Process to that of the process for The Nutcracker Ballet. Starting months and months before, staff and volunteers work endlessly for the exhilarating distribution week to come. With that said, the magical essence of the Ballet experience cannot happen with just the prim
Post a Comment
Read more

“have you talked to a trained domestic violence advocate?"

Have you ever had a victim of domestic violence try and open-up to you about their abuse and you not know what to say or how to handle it? Have you found yourself asking a victim of domestic violence, “why do you stay?” Moultrie County Dove Office understands that without being properly trained on domestic violence and best domestic violence practices, it is hard to know what to say or do when a victim of domestic violence finally decides to open-up to you about their abuse and we want you to be better prepared. Asking a victim of domestic violence “why do you stay” can place emphasis in the wrong place and make the victim feel as if they have done something wrong. In all actuality, there are many reasons victims of domestic violence stay in and return to abusive relationships. Victims of domestic violence stay in abusive relationships for fear for their personal safety and the safety and well-being of their children. Statistics show that a victim of domestic violence is at a 75%
Post a Comment
Read more

Doing our part to make a difference.

 With so much talk everywhere on issues of violence, once again a topic discussed at the CONO (Coalition Of Neighborhood Organizations) meeting this past month in wonder of how to stop violence from happening in our community. Let’s consider narrowed down, violence begins in neighborhoods, no matter where they are. Cities including Decatur, have Stop The Violence campaigns and rallies in order to take a stand and to bring positivity and hope which is so important! But I wonder, doesn’t the remedy lay within each one of us? We must not close our eyes or turn a deaf ear, right, and when we see something, yes, we must say something, but isn’t there more? Doesn’t there need to be hands reaching out to one another in solidarity and hope with a goal in mind like the future of our family, neighborhood and ultimately our world. It begins in a neighborhood, your neighborhood and mine. So, if you don’t already have an active neighborhood group in your area, will you consider starting one? If so
Post a Comment
Read more