Hope Grows In A...

Book Club: the place where people force you to spend precious reading time with books they're interested in (and you couldn't care less about).

Generally, I'm not a huge fan.  After reading something from book club, I typically shelve it and never pick it up again. But sometimes--when I swallow my pride and/or inner whiny monologue--I have a genuinely positive experience with authors and genres outside of my comfort zone.

This months selection, The Rent Collector by Camron Wright, was just such a read.  Though the story is ficticous, it's based on the lives of individuals who lived in and made their living in a city municipal waste dump in Cambodia.


I'm the first to admit this is a rather grim setting, but as I hit the last page today, a quote from The Office came to mind:

Granted, when Michael Scott and Dwight Shrute, who are conversing at the city dump, drop this one-liner, it's meant to be funny.  Or at least ironic. (Seriously, it's The Office, if your funny bone's not tickled, you're due some sort of refund.)  However, in terms of The Rent Collector, this quote rings true. No matter what the family's circumstances, parents want the best for their children and will sacrifice what is necessary to make it a reality.

…the desire to believe, to look forward to better days, to want them, to expect them—it seems to be engrained in our being.  Whether we like it or not, hope is written so deeply into our hearts that we just can’t help ourselves, no matter how hard we try otherwise.  We love the story because we are Sarann or Tattercoats or Cinderella.  We all struggle with the same problem and doubts.  We all long for the day when we’ll get our own reward. (The Rent Collector)

Stories of good versus evil, of characters struggling through their journey to reach their happily ever after, are universal.  No matter the culture, these sorts of tales are passed from generation to generation to encourage hope. So, yes. Hope Grows in a Dump.  And anywhere else it can find ground fertile enough to take root, all it needs is a little encouragement.

To learn more about The Rent Collector, Camron Wright's other projects, or The River of Victory video that inspired Camron's story, please follow the imbedded links. 

Fairytales & Fancy Footwear

Regardless of my neanderthal-esque upbringing (i.e. five crazy brothers who liberally tossed about the phrase “I'll give you something to cry about,” a handyman dad who firmly believed in the merits of electrical tape and chainsaws, and a self-proclaimed tomboy mom who preferred the great outdoors to housekeeping), I am undeniably girly.

I'm the girl who hosts pampering parties, paints itty bitty toddler nails, and houses a burgeoning collection of high-heeled shoes I will never be able to wear to work. (Seriously, they have an average wearability of three hours. Like I'm going to teach kindergarten in those puppies. But they're just so pretty!)

I'm still not sure how it happened, but one day I went from chunky orthopedic footwear to peep-toes, sling-backs, and kitten heels. Somehow, I had learned the truth:

Shoes Are Magical.

And not just in fairytales.  Shoes fit when your cute pants are too snug and your fat pants with their elastic waists beacon from the nether-reaches of the closet. Shoes make your legs, behind, and too small/too big feet look sexy.  Even on the worst of very bad hair days (think cockatoo or Dudley Moore), a snug pair of Spanx and a cute pair of pumps can change your outlook on life.

Maybe that's why shoes are featured in fairytales like Cinderella. Where would Cindy be without the fairy godmother's final gift, the exquisite glass slippers? (I'll tell you where, stuck in the kitchen fetching meals for her ugly stepsisters by day and weeping into the cinders by night.)  One pair of shoes turned a "mentally abused shut in" into a princess.

As Cindy's fairy godmother understood, there is power in a good pair of shoes and a well-chosen outfit. Bella, the heroine of Becoming Beauty, shares this philosophy. However, what's a girl to do when the entire countryside is smitten with her elder sister? (It doesn't seem to matter that Cassie is uninterested in any of the gentlemen bent on wooing her.)

Thoroughly frustrated with the situation, Bella turns to what she knows best: pretty dresses, delicate dancing slippers, and expensive adornments. After wheedling the best that money can buy out of her father, Bella holds her head high at every social gathering and flirts shamelessly with the less-than-exuberant second sons and backward country gentry who figure they've got no chance with her sister anyway.

Night after night of being rebuffed would wear on any girl, especially someone as strong-willed as Bella. She could never guess that her determination and good taste will aid her in changing the life of one who has lived in darkness and shadow for far too long, and win her the love of her life.

I'm a firm believer in happy endings, so here's my advice to girls everywhere:

Thanks for dropping by, friends. Keep those adorable accessories in place and feel free to leave me a comment to tell me what makes you feel like the Queen of the World. Thanks!