The Road Not Taken

We went backward on our walk at the park today. No, I don’t mean we walked backward, we just took the path from the end and went to the beginning, instead of the other way around. It was an eye opener! We saw things from an entirely different view and it was refreshing. We had often met people on the path coming from that direction, but it was novel to come that way ourselves.

Actually, it’s good for you to do something a different way. I’ve read that it wards off Alzheimer’s to do something like trying to read a book upside down. Change awakens the mind and, I guess, creates new pathways in the brain (or at least helps neurons connect better).

We hear a lot about thinking outside the box. In other words, not the normal way of thinking about something. I got the chance to do that quite by accident last weekend when the power was off. When we moved here a few years ago, it was quite a challenge to curtain and drape the rooms, adapting what I had and keeping new purchases to a minimum. The bathroom window didn’t have a shade, so I had “temporarily” propped a painting in the window. It fit perfectly, and it was a translucent, hand-painted scene of clothes flapping on a clothesline. It had been in my laundry room at our former house.

Well, the house was too dark with no electricity that day, so I moved the painting to let more light in, setting it on an antique wash stand below the window. Hey, it looked good, there! The white-washed, weathered frame fit just right between the supporting posts of the wash stand’s towel rack. But now I would have to put something in the window. I spotted a couple of nice towels, never used, folded on top of the wash stand.

Hmm. I could fold the ends over, do a running stitch to make a pocket, slide a spring rod through them, and they would be perfectly appropriate for a window covering! I was dreading to look for bathroom curtains, anyway. I stitched them up this afternoon and was pleased with how they came out, even though they had to be folded almost double. Oh well, the backs would have excess fabric, but it wouldn't show. I accidentally hung them backwards, but the excess made a charming tiered appearance, so I left them. The bathroom looks much better!

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” I know this is talking about spiritual things, but I believe that God helps us, as Christians, to also think creatively with our renewed mind--to think outside the box.

Of course, one thing led to another, as I had to move the slate “Powder Room” sign from the top of the window to a new location on a towel hook where its blue, hand-painted motif picked up the color of a blue bird on an adjacent hand towel. And I found a home for a nautical rope-trimmed sign declaring “To Life Boats,” with an arrow pointing toward the bathtub. My creative mood extended to our supper meal, when I added homemade glazed carrots to our menu of Sour Cream Chicken and baked a Hoosier cake for dessert. Thank you, God, for creativity and a renewed mind.