I played inside for a while, but we then moved outside to the Sandcastle Beach. It’s a seasonal interactive exhibit at The Magic House in St. Louis, and it was very well designed. Complete with beach umbrellas and beach chairs and a variety of sandcastle building tools and molds, it was an invitation to create in the sand in the middle of the city. Half the sand was watered to make it easier to built castles. Half was dry with seashells to sift and find. People were allowed to take one home. There was a small water sprinkler to clean off feet when leaving the area.

I was ready to play! Shoes off, toes in the sand, family around me. Let’s go!

I didn’t hesitate. I plopped down in the sand to start digging. It didn’t take long for me to realize I underestimated the dampness of the sand. I stood up and felt my pants, and….yes, they were wet. They would dry. I sat back down and scooped sand. I kneeled as I buried feet and helped create a mermaid tail. No regrets.

Spontaneity doesn’t always result in no regrets, but when focused on the central relationships in my life, I almost always experience more benefits than regrets. So I was messy. I brushed off the best I could when we were done, but it wasn’t a thorough job. Sand was trapped in my pant cuffs and in my pockets. A small pile dumped on my floor by the clothes hamper later that day, then gathered in a corner of the washing machine lid. Nothing a damp cloth and vacuum couldn’t fix.

Not thinking through some things, responding without well thought through plans, can be messy. But messy isn’t always to be avoided. Sometimes it can’t be. Something it shouldn’t be. Because there are times the willingness to get messy invites relationships.

I have no issues with the wet sand that clung to me and settled into clothing folds as it dried. The benefits of the spontaneous participation were priceless.

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