Ganesha
December 14, 2021 – 12:42 P.M.
Last Wednesday my work email stopped functioning properly. Thursday I submitted an IT ticket but did not hear from them by the end of the day. I was off Friday. This information is important because yesterday when I showed up to work my email loaded just fine, informing me of the Christmas party we had that morning. I did not wear my Christmas sweater, I did not bring a gift for our white elephant gift exchange.
The party began with a Guess That Movie game in which a still image of a Christmas movie was displayed upon the projector screen and the first hand to go up got to answer. It was close in the end, sudden death and our team won. I knew most of them but was kinda shy. I did however contribute by knowing Jingle All The Way (it’s turbo tiiime hahah) and Miracle on 34th Street (a film I only know of and have yet to see).
The next game was Jeopardy and my team lost tremendously. When the game was over I asked, “did we win?” which made some of my coworkers laugh 🙂 Who knew St. Nicholas was born in Turkey? Or the most top grossing Christmas song is White Christmas by Bing Crosby. Not my team.
As we were about to start the gift exchange, I informed my boss I had not brought a gift and will opt out. To which they said it wasn’t a problem as they brought an extra just in case. I’m not particularly fond of the game but I’d survive.
The number I got was about in the middle which gave me time to think about my options. I thought about stealing a coworkers gift that consisted of a notebook and office supplies but then I gave the table of gifts a glance and connected with one I was curious about. It was small, wrapped in white tissue paper. So when it was my turn to go up that’s the one I chose and unwrapped on the way back to my seat. Underneath the paper was a shiny silver and matte maroon statue I recognized but knew nothing about other than knowing it to be a spiritual symbol. I smiled and told the group just that and called it a little statue, showing it off.
Ganesha (Ganesh, Ganapati) according to a google search of ‘elephant goddess meaning’ is an “elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings” as well as “a remover of obstacles.”
Now I’ve given it thought. It didn’t dawn on me first but it is an elephant related gift for an elephant related gift exchange..maybe that’s what this person was going for but I don’t see it that way for me. I can choose to chop it up to someone being cutesy and a little thoughtful or I can take it as a sign or fate that I ended up with it. I like to think there are signs and going off intuition. So I’m choosing to take it seriously because why not?
Before coming to this conclusion I should add how I felt conflicted about it and its meaning. I had this nagging feeling, what if my boss was the one who brought that? It felt tainted to think of it coming from my boss as I’m not entirely fond of them per se 😕 It’s like I felt skeptical to accept it. However, when the party was over I thanked them for bringing an extra gift cause it was nice to participate in the end. They assured me it was no problem then went on to tell me exactly which two gifts they had brought which I was happy to learn was not my Ganesha statue. I felt safe to then believe it was meant for me and bringing me goodness. It’s encouraging.
I’m not much of a religious individual and couldn’t say I’m too terribly spiritual either but I like the feeling I get knowing I own a symbolic figure of change. I’ve been feeling so stagnant for months or really years. Not for any reason I can put my finger on exactly, just a general feeling a lot more recently. So I’m hopeful for the good.