Monday, December 09, 2013

Something that makes me sad

I suppose this is part of the lot of being an adult, but I realized it about me the other day and it makes me sad.

I watch a lot of Cartoon Network. (Yes, I know I SAID I was an adult...). They are running ads in heavy rotation for the "Skylanders" video game. One of the ads features video (I THINK it's home video shot and submitted, and not staged - if it's staged, it's done very well, it looks like home video) of kids receiving the game for Christmas or birthdays and going crazy with joy and excitement over it.

What makes me sad is that I can't think of a single gift - at least, not a physical item - that would make me feel that kind of over-the-top joy. I can just remember it from being a kid - the excitement, the this-is-the-best-thing-ever feeling.

I wonder if there's anything like that for an adult. I mean, if someone gave me a nice car, I'd certainly be grateful - but I'd almost be too embarrassed ("I can't believe they spent that much on me!") to be all over-the-top. (And I have a perfectly serviceable car. And I'm not a "car person"). Same with jewelry, and actually, some of the stuff I love most and wear most are some of the simple, less-expensive (like, rose quartz) stuff. The few nice pieces I have I don't wear as much.

The stuff that would make me go crazy with joy is not "stuff" - the one thing I can think of right now that would make me scream with happiness and squeal and jump around the room would be finding out that a friend diagnosed with terminal leukemia DIDN'T have it, after all, and was going to get better, or that she had some kind of miraculous recovery. (That's the one thing, if one of God's angels came to me, and said, "You get one wish, anything, anything you want for Christmas" that I'd say I wanted....).

Is this feeling common to adults - that the stuff that would make you really happy, like, beyond happy - isn't actual STUFF, or maybe even something you know isn't earthly possible? Or are there adults who are still blessed with the ability to go mad with happiness over a ring or a KitchenAid or some new gadget? Am I just jaded? I mean, all those things are nice and I'd be happy to get a KitchenAid or a new computer or something - but not happy like the kids in that ad are happy.

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