Paper Chains

This year, I've had the privilege of joining my friends to celebrate a baby, and I made some decorations for the occasion. I wrote about this process because we tend to find inspiration in new experiences. At the time of writing this, my life has changed drastically from having a demanding job, hiking a trail for a month, and then becoming unemployed. With life slowing down, I worried that my writing would, too, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I had a newfound appreciation for the things around me. Inside me, there was a new, carefully carved open space that waited patiently to appreciate the small things as if I had never seized the chance before.

Unexpectedly, I found myself cutting out eight strips from single sheets of approximately fifty colours with a little help from friends. This distracted me from my phone and handed me the opportunity to be in the company of people I love. For once, I wasn't worried about the result and not frustrated over the time taken to complete a seemingly small task.

So, why? Well, it could've been that I spent time thinking about the little girl my friend was about to have or the Christmas Party I'd use the chains to decorate my house for. Either way, I was doing something atypical, and I wasn't stressed. I was making time for being happy, and while they were only paper chains, that's what life is! 

Content with paper chains. 

Love bundled up is no good, it must be unravelled and connected to people, places, and things! So, I thank them for the reminder with this poem.

Paper Chains

Bending green around orange,

Glue to join their hands in 

Paper matrimony

I am married to this practice

As the smoker taps their cigarette

To right their nervousness

I cry at the colours

I have coupled with care

Warming to watch them

Hold one another

Chained