Stickerless

I am someone who likes to think.  I really like to think and I really like to talk and write about what I think, and because I have been told that Facebook is not always the most appropriate outlet for my deepest thoughts and feelings, I have decided to create a new outlet.  So here it is, my blog.  I intend to write about whatever is on my mind....which will usually be things like relationships, philosophy, religion, and just thoughts about life in general.  The first thing I want to write about is the name I chose for my blog, "Stickerless".  My inspiration for this name comes from a children's book which really means a lot to me.  The book is called "You Are Special" and is written by Max Lucado.  If you have never read this book, I highly encourage you to find it and read it.  The message has the potential to change your life.

The story begins in a village of little wooden people called Wemmicks.  This village is located at the bottom of the hill where their creator, Eli lives.  All day every day, the Wemmicks run around giving each other stickers.  They give stars to other Wemmicks they admire....the talented, the beautiful, the intelligent....and dots to those they do not.  Some of the Wemmicks are not admired for anything, and because of this, they receive many dots.  One such Wemmick is a Wemmick by the name of Punchinello.  Because he is not talented, beautiful, intelligent, or anything else worth admiring, all that he has are dots, and because of this he becomes very ashamed of who he is.  He begins to believe that he is not good and so he doesn't go out as much anymore, and when he does he only spends time with other Wemmicks with lots of dots, because it makes him feel better about himself.  One day he meets an unusual girl.  This girl does not have any dots or stars, and Punchinello wonders why.  When he asks her, she says, "It's easy, every day I go and see Eli!".  She then encourages Punchinello to go and visit Eli himself, and to find out for himself why she is stickerless.
When Punchinello first walks in to the woodshop, everything is so much bigger than he is that he becomes intimidated and scared, so he decides he cannot stay.  As he turns to leave, though, Eli calls him by name and tells him how glad he is to see him.  They then begin a conversation that has the potential  to change Punchinello's life forever.  This conversation is one in which the creator (Eli) informs Punchinello that none of those other opinions matter....absolutely nothing that the Wemmicks think or say or do about him matters.  All that matters, really, is what Eli thinks of Punchinello.  He taught Punchinello that,"The stickers only stick if they matter to you....the more you trust my love, the less you care about the stickers".  He told Punchinello that letting go of all of his stickers would take time, but he said, "For now, just come to see me every day, and let me remind you of how much I care".

I named my blog "stickerless" because my goal is to let go of my own personal stickers.  Everyone has things which we define ourselves by -- both good and bad.  We define ourselves by our majors, by our careers, by our interests, by our talents, by our frienships, by our looks, by our intelligence.  We like to go around saying things like, "I'm a student", "I'm a mom", "I'm a good friend", "I'm a this", and "I'm a that", and I think we like to do that because it's comforting.  It's comforting to paint ourselves into a corner and define ourselves narrowly because with our finite minds it is so hard for us to comprehend the infinite possibilities of our potential....so instead we cling on to shallow images of things which we think we'd like to be, and in the process we often lose sight of the fact that we are already magnificent. All I want to do is learn to be genuine and true to who I really am -- and because of my own experience in my creator's "wood shop", I know that who I really am is a daughter of God, who was created by His hand, and because of that, I am special.  As my life goes on, I pray that I will learn to trust in my Creator's love to the point where the opinions and labels which others may give me, and which I may give myself, will no longer matter.  I want to walk through life unashamed of who I am because of whose I am.....and this, my friends, is what I call being "stickerless".