Perspectives by Pete
©2011 Pete Winslow
One of the very best marriage advice tips I ever received was “Don’t marry anyone without playing at least one game of monopoly with them.”
I’ve done that, intentionally with a few friends and, even with people I’ve known for years, there’s something about the Monopoly experience that will reveal something about your former friend that you never dreamed was lurking inside.
Yard-saling is kinda like that, which is what happened this weekend in Happy Camp, CA. Over one hundred years ago, one of my most favorite authors, James Allen, said, “Circumstances don’t make the man, they reveal him to himself.” And, like a rousing game of Monopoly there is something about being at the helm of a yard sale that reveals qualities in my neighbors, friends, and other visitors that any other normal village activities would not provide the necessary catalyst for; revealing the some time scary depths of an individual or group.
An artist may kindly inform you that the picture you have priced at $.50 is really worth $25 and then gladly pay it. Another “bargain hunter,” and hunter is the operative word, may stomp out of your yard in an indignant huff because you refuse to sell earrings, marked down to $20 for only $.25 cents.
To offer another comparative example, like golf, yardsaling can be a character building experience. In the game of golf, for a right hander, if it curves to the left it’s called a hook, to the right it’s a slice and if shot straight, it’s a miracle!” So there are some who will try and slice your potential profits down by 90% or more.
Others will recheck you up with the inherent true worth of your beloved treasure. But if you are lucky, your day will mostly provide the middle of the road folk who will gently haggle, usually leave with something, including good feelings in you to accompany the few dollars that changed hands. These good vibes are the daily miracles in life and, in the end, are the only really good reason to interact with anybody.
So what does the “Art & Treasure Weekend mean to me? I have, yet again a much DEEPER APPRECIATION for the gentle Art of respectful dialogue and the absolute Treasure of those gentle souls who never lose contact with the with the inner knowledge of the inherent value of every individual we came in contact with!
This weekend, including the preceding days of preparation, have been an enjoyable, exhausting, trying, aggravating, mix of cheerleaders, those diseased with what I call “monopoly heart” and a completely refreshing breed of those who cannot help but breathe life into every situation they bless with their presence.
