Two days earlier his person had been walking and had taken Blob with her. She really wasn't very good at sharing her days with Blob back then. She was so used to being alone that she didn't quite know what to do with the company of a little pink toy. Blob's person didn't know how good it could be to share an experience with such a friend but she has learned about it since then. They have shared so much together and Blob can't quite believe how good his life has become.
Case in point. This day. April 25th. Five days after his first trip out with his person. She let him accompany her. She remembered him for a while. He saw something beautiful. And then he sat back in her bag and was forgotten about for the rest of the day. Poor Blob. Forgotten. Neglected. When he could have been running along beaches and singing in the sand. He could have carefully walked along the tops of cliffs. He could have seen an art trail. He even missed out on sharing chips with his person and on that day she couldn't even finish them. Neglected. In the dark of a bag. Poor Blob.
He's not going to get miserable about the day though. Oh no, not Blob. He's not going to say, "That was a rubbish, rubbish day." He's not going to fall into some dark place in his head over being stuck in the dark place of the bag for most of the day out. Blob knows that there are better ways to live than that. His person has been learning them but Blob knew them right from the start of his life. Blob says, "Why should I be distressed when I look back on the day? It's true that some of it was hard. But there were good things too. I will look back and smile and focus on those. I won't pretend the hard things didn't happen. But I will rejoice in the wonders of that day."
On that day, Blob saw a river for the first time. It was the River Wansbeck - the very same river he would see two days later. But it was a different part of the river, a much wider part. Had he not been so neglected later in the day, Blob would have seen the place where the river flows into the sea. Blob's person has promised that one day they will go back and he can see it. She says it's well worth seeing and there's a very long sandy beach that runs from the estuary. She says that when she was there she was the only person on that beach and she sang to the sea and the sky at the top of her voice. Blob likes it that she's free enough to do things like that.
It was a good day. Blob saw a river.
It was a stunning river. Blob was totally amazed. He had never seen anything like it before. He didn't even know that such things could exist. There was nothing like it in his house. The closest things to it were the kitchen sink and the bath but though they were watery they were very different to the river. The water stretched far away to the bank on the other side and along the river almost as far as he could see. How could there possibly be so much water in one place? On later days he would see the sea and be even more astounded by the spectacle. Blob decided that day that the planet Earth is absolutely amazing. He doesn't ever want to take it for granted because there is an almost unbelievable amount to appreciate and enjoy, even close to where he lives.
Just look at that smile. You would smile like that if you saw a river for the first time. But would you smile if you saw it for the fiftieth time? Would you still appreciate it and look at it in wonder at the beauty, the power, and the sheer spectacle of the world? Or would you pass it by and be oblivious to the wonderment?
Blob's person knows that it is very easy to not notice the good things. She knows that familiarity with even the most astounding spectacle can lead to a numbing so we don't stand in awe and begin instead to stand in boredom. She tries not to let that happen, to look at each sky and each sight and fully live in those moments. Often she fails. But the aim is there.
Blob is determined. He will fully live in the moments. So far, he has managed it. He's mindful and alert and aware and so he can smile even when the days are difficult ones in which he's forgotten in a bag save for brief glimpses into a lighter world. Blob believes that there are always brief glimpses no matter our circumstances. He may be a bit of an idealist but he's standing by that view. People ask him, "But what if I was in such and such a dire situation?" Blob responds and says, "Ah, but you're not, are you?"
Will Blob Thing continue to live fully? Will he even discover a greater fullness? Time will tell, but Blob's person believes in him. His life will be abundant. It will be free. It will be mindful. And, regardless of how hard it may be at times, it will be beautifully cherished.
[969 words]
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