Finish (Five Minute Friday)

I am two weeks late for this one. And one week late for the next one. And then I will be caught up. But I don't think I can let this word pass me by.

So, as the Five Minute Friday baton passes (more on that here), everyone gave 5 minutes on FINISH.

Except I am not thinking finish - the end. I am thinking finish - the covering. You know, like the kind of the paint you use? Satin, matte, eggshell, etc? When you go to the paint store and they ask you the questions about what kind you want, and you never know? Well, at least I never know. Eggshell if you want it in a kid's room so you can wipe the fingerprints off easier. Satin in the bathroom so you can wash the toothpaste and stray soap quirts off the wall every day. (Oh, you don't have to do that? Just me? Moving on then...) Matte somewhere else, so it doesn't look shiny. Or whatnot. I still don't really get it.

But this I do get: when you use those different finishes, the walls LOOK different. And they respond differently. Trying to wash things off a matte finish leaves stuff smudged and looking lousy. Wiping off that satin finish is easy. (See toothpaste comment). And leaves the walls looking as if you just painted them. And so that got me to thinking. Yuo can also use the different finish on the same color to make a room have definition with stripes. Paint it all the matte and then put the same color over parts with the shinier finish.

I think that's how people are. I'm one body, with a bunch of different finishes. If you throw something my way and hit my matte side, it sticks. It grinds in. I can try to wipe it away but it smudges around and I am never quite the same as I was. Words do that - change people. Can't take them back. Can't undo them. And can't eliminate the effect. You can minimize it, try to make it better and cleaner, but it's never the same. But if you throw the mean comments or the bad day at my shiny satin finish then they will mostly wipe off. Mostly easily and I can keep going. That's grace right there - the shiny finish part.

Today: I am thankful that there's more shiny than matte on my finish. That grace is bigger than it was and there's more of it around than there used to be. And that every day I can start fresh with a grace-shine.

Stop.