Loving rainbows and all things happy, things filled with colorful stripes or polka dots and gold hearts, rainbow sprinkles and confetti, and even ladybugs has always been a part of me as long as I can remember. I fully understand that this is not everyone’s jam, but it is and always has been mine. I can remember being a little girl, 5 years old, making countless pictures of rainbows and laminating them with Saran Wrap. Now, 38 years old decorating a room with rainbows and a confetti rug, this room becoming my craft room, where I will inevitably make more bright, fun, happy little pieces of joy share with the rest of the world.
As I grew older my love for these things remained the same. While I always had a love for these things I found that many people in the world around me had phased out their love for all things rainbow (and bright and confetti…you get the picture) and moved onto colors like black and white, navy and olive green. I often felt like my feelings of expressing myself through my love of color and all things bright and celebratory were suppressed because I was letting the world tell me that being that bright spot was always just a little “too much.”
I have always been the friendly type. Waving “hi” to everyone when I am on a run, befriending almost anyone I meet. Making sure that everyone feels included or at least has an invitation. While I lived my life this way, I always felt like I was not living up to my full potential because I was always pushing back those feelings of wanting to be so over the top excited and joyful, throwing confetti and plastering inspirational words and rainbows all over every aspect of my life.
In 2019 my husband and I moved from the Columbus area to the Toledo are. Moving to this area I knew no one. My in-laws are both within 20-30 min, we have close family friends here, but as far as stay-at-home mom friends who would jump at the chance for an impromptu park date or a play date where kids annihilate the house while you enjoy a cup of coffee over screaming children, I had none.
As my children started school, I befriended (see..) a fellow mom at school pickup. We became fast friends over our love for rainbows, confetti, and lots of joy. This friend pushed me to join a moms group, and through this moms group I formed a bond with a few other fellow mommas, all of us becoming very close. We are all so different, yet our love is the same. One of my friends in particular, is very outspoken. She is the one that changed my life.
“You are so extra, and that is why I love you.”
I feel like that statement gave me the permission I needed to be me, it is then that I embraced my extra, and am loving every minute of it. My friends and neighbors all know me and my love for rainbows. Showing up at my house with a rainbow cup or coffee mug, messaging me in a pinch for some gold ribbon or confetti. Everyone knows I overuse emojis, probably am a little on the bubbly side, love banners a little too much, and that some random Saturday every now and again my family will show up on your doorstep with a sprinkle donut drop.
It is this that I want to teach my children and hope to teach others around me. That being truly authentic and true to yourself is magical. That when you open your door and let others in to your extra that it is then that you start living out this life that was intended for you instead of hiding your bright light behind curtains. Being free to be you in your own beautiful way. The world needs who you are. The Earth shakers and the confetti throwers. We are all extra in our own extra special way. Do not be afraid to show your extra side, after all, the world needs more of who you were meant to be!
