My idea of extravagance -- at least for most of my life -- meant having and spending lots of money. Many dictionary definitions suggest this as well. Not much money comes my way, so I lived feeling just a bit sorry for myself and my extravagance-free life. But slowly my concept of extravagant living changed.
I think it started with reading "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" a few years ago. In the early 1900's, a struggling family survives on determination, pride and little else. But there is always a pot of coffee on the stove. Reading on I discovered that the frugal mother in the story wanted her family to have
one thing they could use without worrying about waste. She understood the importance of extravagance even in hardship.
The idea bubbled at the back of my mind. Hmm...a pot of coffee. And then I read another definition: "the quality of exceeding the appropriate limits." There must be many ways to create extravagance in life...
I teach college English and often spice up my classes with quizzes, supplemental reading, and other handouts. All of these would be just fine copied on white paper, the appropriate limit. But they look so much cheerier (might I say extravagant?) copied on the lavender, pale yellow, light blue or pink paper that sits right there in the copy room for all teaching staff to use.
Abundant, lively color is one form of extravagance. And I realize that it fills my closet, my kitchen cabinets, my home, the classrooms where I teach -- MY LIFE. I've been rich for years!
Tomorrow I take the Jacaranda Chair to my office to color that space up a bit. I'm on the lookout for other ways to exceed the appropriate limits. It's my own extravagant revolution.
