This column was submitted to LebTown. Read our submission policy here.
And just like that our lives have changed. So much uncertainty has caused us to rush out to stock up on toilet paper and other strange phenomenons. We are wondering if we will continue going to work or work from home, or not work at all. Some will experience what teachers do five days a week as our children have a few weeks(?) at home. And the list goes on. We will worry and stress about so many unknowns as we try to figure out what to do during this world wide crisis.
We decided we had to do something to bring a smile, happiness, and a few moments of laughter to our little corner of this world we inhabit. What better way to do that than with a TUTU!
Why a TUTU you ask? I made a discovery a few months ago when I pulled out a colorful rainbow TUTU I had stuffed in the back of my closet, put it on and headed down to the family room and started interpretive dancing (that’s what I like to call my lack of dancing skills) in front of my four granddaughters. I don’t think I have ever heard four children laugh so hard – EVER! It also created a lasting happiness affect. Whenever they come over they ALWAYS ask me to put on my TUTU again.
So, I started thinking… the world needs more people in TUTUs. I ordered a few more and asked my crazy (like me) friend, Brenda, if she was in on a fantastic idea I had. She was! I headed to Florida (recently but before traveling was an issue – I’m in PA). We packed up some beach chairs, snacks, and stuffed our TUTU’s in a bag and headed out to enjoy our sunny day and see if random strangers would think we were brilliant or nuts.
We scoped out our victims/volunteers we thought would be great to approach with our TUTU’s of HAPPINESS. It took us awhile to work up to approaching them but then we unpacked the bright circles of tulle to see if everyone felt what we felt or if we were about to have confirmed by strangers the crazy we already knew we had in us.
A mother and daughter close by were our first. We approached them with our big fluffy TUTU’s and their first reaction was confusion and then it happened they smiled. Before we even asked them to slip them on they were in. We explained they were our first. We told them about our idea and our new Facebook page and our goal to spread happiness. They threw on a TUTU and immediately started twirling, dancing, smiling and laughing. We asked them how they felt or what they love when they put their TUTU on and we wrote it down along with their first name, their age, and the state they were from. Brenda and I looked at each other and we knew the magic TUTU’s hold is real!
We worked our way around the beach and TUTU’d up a fisherman, an older gentleman, and three young ladies – no one said no when asked if they would slip on our TUTU’s of HAPPINESS. That afternoon we laughed til we cried over and over again. We decided that day we were going to continue our mission of sharing our TUTU’s with friends, family and especially strangers.
I headed back to PA and have kept my TUTU’s close by. Brenda sent me some TUTU photos from FL as she continues our TUTU’s of HAPPINESS sharing down there and I continue in PA. I own a bakery and the talk filling the room was about all the “What-If’s” in our world right now. I decided it was time to pull out the TUTU’s and let the magic begin. Laughter and happiness ensued and with it came a moment to forgot about everything except the fun happening around us.
We realize it was only a moment of reprieve but we are pretty sure it will be a lasting moment and one that will bring smiles for awhile as we remember how they felt when they slipped their magic TUTU on.
Our Facebook page is here. Feel free to join the TUTU HAPPINESS MOVEMENT and message us your TUTU photo(s) with a first name, age, and state/country – make sure you ask their permission to share) and how they felt when they slipped on their TUTU. We will share them on our page. Let’s share some happiness around the world!