Through my window this morning, I can see the sun streaming over the dark hills of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It makes me think about newness…the excitement, the anticipation and even the nervousness that surrounds a new day, a new challenge, a new job and a new relationship.
But the thing about newness is whatever it is that makes it new, with time eventually wears and becomes old. The initial excitement often fades. Nervousness becomes comfortable. Shiny becomes dull—just like in The Velveteen Rabbit. Do you know that story?
A boy loves his new, fluffy stuffed rabbit very much. After being hugged and dragged around by the boy for so long, the rabbit becomes tattered and worn. As the boy grows older though, new toys begin to grab his attention. While sad at first, the Velveteen Rabbit eventually realizes with the help from his friend, the Skin Horse, that the tears and tatters were evidence of being loved for so many years. While the excitement had faded, the boy would always have a special irreplaceable bond with his favorite childhood toy.
In the same way, anything new can feel exciting and motivating. However, there is a deep satisfaction and contentment that comes from knowing and loving something and, to a much greater extent, someone unconditionally. Love over time, through the rocky times, and after the initial luster and beauty fades, fosters something better, deeper and irreplaceable…something real.
‘It doesn’t happen all at once.’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” – The Velveteen Rabbit
