Similar Thoughts - By Guest Blogger Scott DeSantis

I find myself always coming around to similar thoughts when I feel the inspiration to write.  My wife’s Uncle Al, who I’ve gotten close with over the years, asked me to write a piece for his blog after reading a few random posts I’ve spewed on Facebook. I’m not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do enjoy challenging my mind to extract some thoughts that can potentially be encouraging for someone.

So back to the “similar thoughts” comment. I have a huge network of family that, generally speaking, makes up my immediate friend group as well. There are some integral people that have been inserted into that family group over the years that may as well be related. My inspirations for thoughts over the years seem to always stem from the times spent with this particular group of people.

Maybe I’ve become a little more emotional over the years because of certain things I’ve been through, and that emotion sparks these random family thoughts, but regardless, here we are. So a few years ago my wife and I bought a house that has essentially become the “go to” for hang outs. We have the space, we have a nice pool with a pool-house and I’ve been working on building an outdoor kitchen which seems to be the place we congregate now. It’s very easy to get caught up in the day, swimming, eating, drinking and just good conversation. Last night was another weekend gathering, while I was sitting behind the bar I built, talking with family and friends, I found my brain backing away from the conversations a bit and realizing what these moments mean, not only for me personally, but my wife, my kids, and all the people who are always with us. 

My first thought was about my kids. There’s seven million children in this extended family of ours. All the cousins play, yell, laugh, cry, spit, and hang together a lot. I looked through the windows into my den at the back of our house that we can see from our pool area and I saw my two daughters and few of my nieces playing on the ground with little Peppa Pig figurines and Barbies As my brain floated into this “reflection reality”, I just thought about the innocence of my children and the love they have for things in their life.

I saw this video online a few years ago. It was about a father who was some sort of 3D computer animator. He created these incredible videos of “what a child sees and what we see”. The little girl, for example, puts Peppa Pig in the toy car and scoots the car up and down the couch, as if it’s going over mountains and through a creek, only to crash into a couch cushion which, in her brain, is a tree or something. The 3D animator dad created that exact scenario (amongst a bunch of others: floor lava, space, etc). The video was so interesting because it really showed how innocent and beautiful a child’s mind can be. Imagination and reflection can change your entire thought process. No, I don’t want to play with Peppa Pig cars, but I do want to turn the world off at times and think simple. 

My second thought while tuning out of reality, was about a lot of the conversations we have amongst the family. So many of them are about past experiences, trips, memories, etc. A lot of those moments come from the “older folks” within the family sharing memories of when they did this or that, when they were younger, how they remember always being at this place or that place, creating these memories that they are in turn speaking out. 

Last night, while still in this “purgatory brain space”, my brother-in-law arrived, walked through my garage and joined right into the group… it was in that moment he walked in I knew eventually it would be THESE moments we will all talk about in years to come. No, not him walking through a garage (not impressive in itself) but the times where we all arrive, together, at different times, as family, as friends, creating scenarios, creating stories, creating laughter and conversation and memories of our own. 

It’s in these moments that love surrounds us. It’s in these moments I think sometimes we take for granted, not on purpose but because we are too busy enjoying the moments. But just like our children’s Peppa Pig brain, I think it’s important to back away every once in a while and appreciate the time we are in in the present. It’s times like these that we need to look to for encouragement and happiness. Sure, not everyone has this same dynamic, but my point here is to step back and realize what you have that’s important in your life and don’t let the day to day blind you. Find your “outdoor kitchen space”. 

As you can tell with my over usage of commas, and my improper writing etiquette, I am no blogger. But I do like to think that my thoughts can parallel someone else’s brain waves. If so, I hope you find your innocence, happiness, and memories that you can hold on to for yourself.

Above Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Scott DeSantis

An experienced contractor and owner of DeSantis Contracting LLC. He takes great pride in his craft of home remodeling and making his customer's dreams a reality. Scott is married to the love of his life and has three children. In his spare time, he likes to perfect his golf game, cheer for the Steelers and take his fantasy football team to the playoffs…