Negativity
The thing about my mother-in-law (father-in-law too, but less markedly so) is that she’s really negative. About everything. Sometimes it’s delivered seriously, sometimes as a joke; often it’s disguised as “common sense” which tends to make me appear silly and Pollyanna-ish whereas I prefer to see myself as Can Do. (Can she do it? Yes she can!) When this negativity is just general background negativity, it’s like a dark, insidious cloud is weaving through the house but it’s possible to ignore. When it’s more directed, it can be very hard to take.
No matter how hard it is to take, however, I don’t have to live with it all the time. It’s not in me. It is, however, in her. She carries it with her. She can’t get away from it. That must be so hard, to live all the time, leaning against that spongy wall of pessimism. Really, fundamentally, I feel bad for her. I feel like there must, somewhere in there, be a very sad, lonely little person who would like to be held, to be comforted. I can’t do it directly of course. Nononononono. No emotions please. But when I’m in one of my good spaces, I can covertly try to be kind.
So the scarf was for her. I think she liked it.
Negativity is contagious. You have to do whatever it takes to protect your hopefulness, passion, and positivity towards life. Even if it means relinquishing that awesome scarf. I hope she notices the mistake in the scarf and subsequently loves it even more because it is real- both flawed and perfect.
What a wonderful post. What a wonderful scarf. What a wonderful message.