She remembers discovering her parents' tape collection and playing ABBA on the stereo and dancing with complete abandon. Until she realised her dad was watching and despite his pleas for her to continue, she was too self-conscious.
The little girl had also loved to sing, and remembers performing her shy rendition of 'Little donkey' one Christmastime for adult acquaintances. When she was a little older, she discovered that apparently her parents no longer rated her voice as very good, a brother was touted as being the better singer. Looking back, the comparison was completely unnecessary, but the temptation to categorise seems to have been too great for them to resist.
The little girl was astute, she picked up on what was said, and what was implied. She molded and camouflaged herself into the position allotted to her. She desperately wanted approval. Unfortunately approval meant silence; a no news is good news kind of a deal.
Now, Princess Morag has a little princess of her own who loves to dance and sing. What a joy! What a wonderful thing to celebrate and share. The princess is rediscovering through her daughter, how delightful little girls are. She knows this is the truth, yet there is a commentary tape that plays in her head, with barbed and snide comments, that threatens to taint those precious mother-daughter moments. But the princess is determined to escape from the lies that have infiltrated her consciousness. She proclaims that those automatic thoughts deserve automatic extinction. She declares that the attitudes that stink be replaced with gracious incense. The princess may have been small but she was NOT like the fragile Christmas ornaments or a snowflake so easily melted. She was, and is, like a little candle burning in the night. She might be hiding inside her grown-up body, but she has power and perseverance. Keep her shining Lord.
Amen. You keep shining. And you dance. And you sing. HE wants it. He loves it and He is your audience. And when you don't feel like dancing and you are not "good" He provides for that because He knows your frame. Thank you for this post, Morag. So glad that you are redeeming the days with your daughter. You are drawing lines in the sand for future generations!
ReplyDelete