30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 26

"The Birthday Girl" - mixed media on repurposed wood, 22" x 5.5".  Ready to hang.  Available at Artfinder.

Inigo: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
                  from The Princess Bride

How long Inigo waited to say these words to the six-fingered man!  Finally, FINALLY the time has come to say the thing he has practiced over and over again.  I wonder...was the actual event as satisfying as he had built it up to be in his head all those years?  I think, sometimes, that waiting for the thing is more fun, in the end, than the actual thing itself.

Let's take birthdays, for example.  Now I don't know about you, but no matter how old I am, there is a little girl inside of me who gets very excited every time my birthday rolls around (never fear, dear reader, it is not my birthday!  Not even close!) and wishes, just a bit, for some lovely surprise or another.  And presents...how exciting it is to hold that gift in your hand, to admire the wrapping, ribbon and card.  But what's inside the box - I'll wager is generally quite lovely but not what it was hyped up to be by the extraordinary outside.

So I had to challenge myself to try to think of something...just one thing, that was as good as or better than I had built it up in my mind to be for some period of time prior to it.  And immediately there was one.  Entering Harry Potter World at Universal Studios...slipping in between unmarked building that opened into a magical world (complete with theme music and a fire breathing dragon) - I actually caught my breath.

​But is that what I build up in my mind about future events?  Theme music and dragon-sized surroundings?  Maybe so.  After all, we live in a world of super-sized entertainment and lavish events.

So I spent a little more time contemplating.  A  flood of other memories poured in...standing at the foot of Multnomah Falls , the night market in Bangkok,  an evening on the beach at Xpu Ha Palace, my sister's incredible outdoor wedding under the tall trees of Oregon, and Ireland of course...ok, these were all things I looked forward to which really blew me away once the day arrived.

This little piece of art is a reminder to allow for the possibility that the things we look forward to might just be even better than expected.  Like my next birthday.  Not a milestone, but maybe magical anyway. I wonder if Inigo Montoya will be there?