Praise for Ceilings

It's Friday, and time for another "Thought-tale" at the Henderson's. "Ceiling" is a word I've heard a lot this week, and I've been expanding my thoughts on them, and how they impact our lives.  

A ceiling is probably one of the first things we see as we enter the world – 

Humans begin from protective walls to wide spans with a lid - a ceiling.  We have very early memories of looking at the cracks in the ceiling, or a spider crawling on the ceiling, or little things hanging from the ceiling.  It’s the topper that stops things from falling on us.  It covers us from harm.  As we get older, it starts to get in the way at times, like when we are jumping hard on the bed, and we hit our head on it.  The ceiling becomes a limit – you can’t go any higher without breaking something.  

We go out from under the ceiling to the outdoors, but even then, we learn that it’s a ceiling too because we can only go so high without outer protections. If we get too high, we are done for. The ceiling does what it’s supposed to do – keep us safe and within limits.  

That’s a good thing right? 

But then, we start to hear about glass ceilings, which we learn are barriers meant to give us a glimpse of what we could have if there weren't that ceiling in the way.  A glass ceiling can be cruel, causing one to ignore all of the opportunity under the imposed ceiling entirely. You begin to care not about what you can achieve below the ceiling, and you look for ways to break that darn ceiling so you can jump higher.  

Yes, I've faced my fair share of those in my life, and I bet many of you have too.  But the older I get, I do realize that not all ceilings need to be broken, and many of them are more flexible then fixed. They are more like bubbles than covers, and I can play gleefully beneath them. 

I read a quote this week that grabbed me and made me think of this over-concentration on ceilings: 
“We choose, quite deliberately, what owns us.” – Martha Kilpatrick.  
There have been times that I have allowed the ceiling to own me, feeling trapped beneath it and plotting how to get out from under it.  Jealously coveting the space above the ceiling and sure that there is so much more happiness in that place.  

In truth, the ceiling partly existed because I wasn't really through with the work to be done below the ceiling.  

I wasn't bumping my head like I did as a little girl, I was just peering up instead of taking care of what was around me.  When I stopped letting the ceiling own me, I focused on what was important to build upon, and I floated up.  And as I did, I realized that there really wasn't a ceiling there at all.  It was a self-imposed barrier.  Perhaps I put there to keep me from over-reaching and going over my limit...

Floating off into space where 

I wouldn't be able to breathe.

So this week, we are toasting to ceilings, and doing their job.  Keeping us safe, reminding us that there are healthy limits, helping us not to lose focus of taking care of the detail beneath them and never letting them completely own us.  I made something called "A Crack in the Ceiling", and rather than raise them, we raise a glass to them, knowing they rarely get the appreciation they truly deserve.  CHEERS FRIENDS!

A Crack in the Ceiling Cocktail

1 oz vodka
1 oz peach schnapps
1 oz rum
1 oz triple sec
1/2 oz sambuca
lemon-lime soda

Build in a collins glass and fill with lemon-lime soda. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.