I recently discovered a community writing center in town. On one of my first visits, I entered the room prepared to write about my research. What happened next was completely unexpected (and yes, eventually my academic writing got done as well).
On the wall hangs a white-framed chalkboard. The stark contrast of the pure white frame with a black slate…waiting for its next inscription. Something so innocent about an empty slate…holds such promise. Oddly the slate hangs among beautiful photos that capture people and objects from around the world. Young children with innocent excited smiles imprinted in color to be preserved for all eternity. Yet here, among these worldly photos hangs a simple board with nothing on it. Filled with possibility. A clean slate…
What shall fill this space? Another to-do list to add to the sea of never-ending tasks that need to be completed? Perhaps those chores can wait…they seem so trivial to fill this space of promise.
A sketch of words that might provide hope to all who see the board. A reminder of PEACE and that this begins with each choice we make every day. Or maybe the word DREAM as an encouragement to reach for our dreams and to make sure we have them. Even INSPIRE could grace the board…be inspired or to live our life in such a way that inspires others. Or maybe my favorite word, SIMPLIFY. This board seems deserving of such magnificent words.
Maybe one with artistic abilities might find this an appropriate place to leave an image of a favorite object…a coffee cup, flowers, mountains, skein of yarn?
On the table sits a lone piece of chalk…oddly it is bright pink. Never would I have imagined pink as a suitable color for the board. The simple board in all its elegance; shouldn’t it be graced with the simple old-fashioned white chalk? Maybe all simple things need to be jazzed up at times. Or perhaps the exciting color adds to the intensity of the promises held by chalking our simple dreams on the board.
At first, the empty space on the board struck me as odd and bare. Now, I can appreciate the excitement and wonder of what might come of filling this open space.
How will you fill in your blank slate today?