“I often use the word “joy” when describing fireworks. It is a considered word, deliberate in choice. Not just amusement, entertainment, astonishment, but joy. Our art makes us all into children again for a while. We become one in our experience for the moment; lost in the sound and color and light. We see large forces, stronger than we could ever be, yet beautiful in their effects. Sometimes violent, sometimes restrained. Delicate beyond imagination at times, coarse and rude at others.”
-Bill Withrow
On the Fourth of July, I, like the majority of people stood in rapt attention as fireworks burst into the sky above. I have to admit that I am a great lover of fireworks. They make me laugh uncontrollably. The sheer over-the-top nature of them just seems to go someplace within me that can only respond in laughter. I also have to admit that that laughter sometimes even turns to tears. Tears of joy. Those who know me well would not be surprised by this but it might seem quite odd to others.
This past Fourth as I watched and laughed, I actually began to think about why I have this reaction. There is, of course, their beauty. The brilliant reds, blues, shocking whites and gaudy greens. Then I thought about how each colorful explosion seems destined to out shine the shower that preceded it. There are also the silly sounds…the booms, crackles, hisses and what can only be described as a ‘swirly’ sound that accompanies the ones that look like giant noodles plummeting toward the earth. While the sounds might be big and loud, they also have a certain playfulness about them.
Fireworks are also fleeting. It was this overall reaction on which I settled. Fireworks speak to the in-the-moment kind of extravagance that can fill you with joy. They light up the sky and then fall to earth in a matter of moments. To spend such resources on this fleeting enjoyment seems decadent, something only the wealthy can indulge in. In many ways this kind of expenditure would often set me on my high horses but I am so glad I simply don’t go there. I just allow the creativity of people who know how to make these explosives and design their interactions to give me the gift of this momentary joy.
Thinking about that fleetingness,I was reminded of all the other things that have such a short life. While these things don’t make me laugh out loud, I am aware of how quickly they pass by, burn out, disappear. To think that I don’t stop and pay attention to them with the fullness I do with fireworks made me wonder what I am missing.
Things like the purple thistles in my backyard about to mimic the firework display. Soon this national flower of Scotland growing will loose its luster and go to seed, gone out of our sight. And what about the fleeting nature of the children we know who are becoming adults before our eyes, losing the sweetness of innocence as we all must do. What have I missed by not looking into their eyes with greater intention. And then there was this morning’s sunrise and its shadow partner sunset. Why did I not get up from where I was and be a witness to both. And of course there is this moment, this hour, this breath, this day. All fleeting, all here one minute and gone in the next.
Gathering at the fireworks as we did, to stand with others to ooh and ahh at the sky show, I thought of the sky show available to me each night. Stars and satellites. Moon and Milky Way. Light years away yet visible if I stand still and watch. Never the same as the night before or the night to come. Fleeting.
This life, this precious, fleeting life, is ours to observe, witness, watch and live. If we take the time, we can be astounded and filled with awe. And if we are lucky we just might laugh until our whole face lights up the sky.
