Thursday, March 12, 2009

Magic Box part 1: Tiny doll with big powers

I am a Worrier, one of the best around. My mom passed along this lovely trait, and coming from a long line of Worriers she felt it was only fitting to gift me with her tiny wooden box of worry dolls when I turned 12. Each doll is a colorful, wiry, stringy little thing, a little smaller than the big enter key on the right of your keyboard. It was explained to me that every night a worry is to be removed from the mind and laid on a doll.

Propped up on my elbow, turned toward my nightside table, I would reach into the box, grasp the legs of a doll, recite a worry and place the doll beneath the lamp. Many times there were enough worries to call upon every doll in the box. Those tiny little things, flat on their backs, arms spread wide, were bench pressing the weight of my burdens night after night.

In the morning they would be grabbed in a bunch and dropped back into the box. But like some kind of African fable, over time the dolls started to disappear. It was so gradual, I hardly even noticed until I reached in and there were only three left. I decided that a doll had to use all of its molecular energy to make the worry go away, and by the time the worry disappeared, so did the doll. My last few dolls were used almost as wishes, for wishes are worries turned optimistic, and they too slipped away having carried out their duties.

Today, Thursday, March 12th, I opened a big, magical box and sticking up amid many other treasures were the stringy little arms of a worry doll. It is lying on the desk in front of me as I write this, and I can almost hear it say "Go ahead, lay it on me!".

Life is remarkable. I have goosebumps.

6 comments:

kendalee said...

Goosebumpy indeed! I hope that little doll can carry your worries away today... sounds like it's ready to accept the challenge.

Maria said...

what a soothing concept to set your worries aside as you go to bed, many of us could use that at the end of a day, we carry that weight around too much, it gets heavy and exhausting. How wonderfully magical this little one appeared for you as if an angel was tapping you to say all is well, take a break, we'll tote that for you

in another lifetime said...

that is exactly what the doll meant to me Maria!

Anonymous said...

smiling!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for giving me the link to this, your worry doll post! I enjoyed it so much. The worry dolls in the match box you saw on my blog were the remains of the dolls i gave to my children. And in that photograph they became wishes. A wish to keep my grown up children connected but separate and strong in their own lives. Since i made that post the wish has come true and now they have their own partners so i guess i need a few more dolls! I can't believe there's someone else out there who really gets it. You have made my day! Annie

Anonymous said...

sorry to leave an anonymous comment. I seem to be having problems with my password at the mo. Annie Edelman
annieedelman@blogspot.com