Someone walked into my place today, noticed Kelto on the couch, and said, “Hey, it’s your other brother Darrell!”

BEAUTIFUL

Kelto was probably not happy, but he just let it bounce off of him.  After all, at the time he was wearing a sporty navy blue sweater with red lining, and not the lovely bow tie pictured above.  He knows he’s beautiful, and right now, glitter full.  Even if you can’t see it in the pictures I’ve got sparkles everywhere.

I was watching a short closed captioned clip of Oprah Winfrey talking about what being “full” meant to her.  Being the articulate speaker she is, she talked about spirituality, having enough to give others, and her “cup running over”.  Of course, I’m sitting there thinking to myself “I wonder how many words out there have the letters “ful” in them and if I could write about them?  What could some of those words mean in terms of knowing who you are and being confident, assertive, and being able to help others without depleting yourself?  I really don’t know, but I’ll give it a try.  I’ve already covered “beautiful” (yes, I know he’s a stuffed animal but the analogy translates to humans).

CAREFUL

This is a good word.  There are so many things in this world to be careful about.  Like, don’t drop that baby. (I have nightmares about babies slipping out of my hands like they’re covered in Vaseline. Trust me, you don’t want to be in my head when I’m sleeping)  Don’t cuss in a church.  Respect your parents.  Try to drive on the correct side of the road, depending on what country you live in.  Make sure there is water in the swimming pool before you swan dive off the high board.  Being careful can save you and your loved ones a lot of avoidable misery.

AWFUL

I guess this is a highly subjective word.  Sort of difficult to talk about.  What is awful to one person could be delightful to another.  For example, a horror movie might be stimulating and engaging for some, and PTSD-inducing for others.  It is important for you to figure out for yourself what is awful.  This goes for food, and for people too.  Do not waste your time around awful people.  They’ll suck you dry faster than the neon lights at West Edmonton Mall.  And then you’ll fly across the room like a quickly deflated balloon, lying wrinkled and defeated and all alone in some corner.  Shit, that is awful.

DIRGEFUL

Boy, this post is getting dark.  Well, I get points for creativity.  Dirgeful is similar to mournful, like things people do at funerals, or when a pet dies, or just disappears and you have no sense of closure like my cat Ernie.  Being dirgeful is important because it is important to let out the black and let the joyful in.  It is also important because you buy a lot of Kleenex and they need to make money too.  Well, you could go around with a snot rag in your pocket and wash it, have a separate drawer for your snot rags – it’s up to you.  OK back to being dirgeful.  There are lots of reasons to be sad and we need to allow ourselves to be sad.  People who say “get over it” need a high five in the face with a shovel.  One that was just used to dig someone’s grave.  I don’t think they use shovels anymore for that.

DISRESPECTFUL

I would like to apologize to anyone who has recently lost anyone or anything of significance by my words in the above paragraph.  Apologizing is also something that frees up space inside.  For nicer things.  Like respect.

EARFUL

I cannot stress enough the importance of having your ears cleaned at your doctor’s office regularly.  Never, ever try to clean out your own ears.  Take it from someone who has had multiple ear, nose, and throat surgeries as a child.  And, as an adult, I’ve had hearing difficulties as a result of wax-clogged ears.  There are even certain types of bugs (not in my area of the world) that like to crawl in there.  When you are finally able to hear again after a long time of leaning forward and going “HUH?!?” to people, it is very liberating.

FACTFUL

Wow, not knowing the facts when writing, speaking, or just having a conversation just makes you look like a fucking moron.  And it is contagious too.  The moron part.  If you are surrounded by people who also are not factful, they will take what you say and spread it to other people until someone says “where in the hell did you hear that from?”  And they’ll be like “Uh I dunno.  The news?”  Somewhere in the chain of communication, someone is going to be greatly offended and a fight might start.  This happened to me about 10 years back.  I was in a singing group and made a statement about a religious denomination which was not accurate, and an atheist came up to me and ripped me apart for being so obtuse.  I learned from that experience.  Ever since then, if I don’t know the facts about a topic, either I won’t speak, or I will decline, saying “I need to do a bit more research before I can speak to this”.  In this way, you are also demonstrating that you are respectful.  I mean, unresolved fights are toxic and can build up like garbage inside you.

You know, a lot of “FUL” words have a lot to do with actions that free up mental space and may even lead to making a person feel more relaxed and healthier.  Like swimming gracefully to the side of the pool instead of face planting into the bottom of a pool with no water (by not being careful).  I’m no doctor, but every single word on my “FUL” list could, in some way, accomplish greater peace of mind and body.

Just like Kelto.  He let that comment just bounce right off his furry back and kept on knowing what he always knew – that he is beautiful and so are you!

What kind of “full” might you be today and why?  Here are some suggestions:

armful, baneful, cageful, dipperful, forkful, hasteful, gardenful, jarful, lapful, mouthful, needful, odorful, pocketful, refulgent, scrofulous, tubful, useful, wrackful, and the words beginning with y and z were boring so I left them out.  Yes, I had to look some of these up in the dictionary too.