This article is a reprint from the current Simply Celebrate monthly newsletter. We won’t always be posting the newsletter articles on the blog, so Sign up now! It’s free.
I spent the 4th of July at my friend (and business partner) Tricia’s house in Browns Valley, CA. It was a real old-fashioned celebration full of cookin’ on the grill; splashin’ in the pool; oohing and ahhing at fireworks; and playin’ games like badminton, ping-pong, or Mad-libs.
Trish lives in a gorgeous place, with wide views of surrounding hills and valleys. We all kept jokingly referring to it as our “country estate.” On Sunday morning, when Tricia starting setting up the croquet wickets and my beau Ian got the three-tiered fountain a-tricklin’ – what a melody falling water makes! – I began feeling like one of the characters inEnchanted April.
My son put all the wooden mallets together and we were gathered, waiting to begin the game of croquet. Suddenly, music was pouring out into the yard (Duke Ellington or maybe Benny Goodman) and then Tricia sashayed out of the house, dressed all in white and wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat. She so looked the part that we all scrambled to get into character ourselves, changing into whatever whites we had — be they tee-shirts or swim suit cover-ups!
The croquet whites, the music, the gurgling fountain, the expansive view of countryside … suddenly we were all giddy with delight. We feigned English accents in order to “jolly-oh” each other and stood poised before each swing of the mallet, showcasing our proper croquet stances. What began as an ordinary Sunday morning playing croquet, turned into one of those “I feel like we’re in a movie” moments. Everything glowed.
Later, I told Tricia that the music and her outfit seemed to spark an extraordinary mood for us all. I wondered aloud what had prompted her to do those things. She said that she just thought it would be fun – that the idea popped into her head and instead of ignoring it, or thinking it was too much trouble, she decided to follow her energy and just do it. We talked about how the afternoon took on that “Hollywood glow” … how life felt cinematic. I love that feeling! And I can see that it takes saying “yes” to our spontaneity and our impulses in order for the feeling to come alive.
Tricia said it best, “So many of us are fascinated with movies and movie stars; I wonder if we’ve forgotten that we can create that cinematic feeling for their own lives?”
I know I forget it all the time!
Do you know that feeling of “just like in the movies?” Do you know what helps create that feeling for yourself? Write and let us know!