So I’m reading ‘Walking on Sunshine’ by Rachel Kelly. The book was kindly sent to me courtesy of the Happynesshub and I’m making notes and marking all the pages with which I have connected in some way – and so far the book looks kind of second hand and a bit scribbled in. I’m sure I was told as a child that you don’t write in books – another example of setting unnecessary boundaries for our adult life? I believe I may have even told my children off for it. A case of practice what you preach versus do as I say, not as I do!
Page 33 has just made me stop and start writing rather than reading though. Rachel quotes Max Ehrmann’s ‘Desiderata’ and quotes:
“You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. You are a child of the universe. You are a child!”
People who know me, know how much importance I place on being childlike in our adult lives. What’s wrong with popping your coat around you like a cape and running through the park screaming “Na na na na na na na na Batman”! Ask a child a question and they’ll give you an honest answer, unless it’s the one about homework. After all, the opposite of “white” is, from a certain perspective…. “yolk”!
The fact is that children see the world as it is. Through the eyes of somebody who hasn’t assumed that something can’t happen just because somebody says so. They’re not affected by social boundaries or religious doctrine or what is deemed acceptable or unacceptable behaviour, or other people’s comments, views or opinions. They make up their own minds based on what they see. Ask a child for a solution to an adult problem and look at the beautiful simplicity of the proposed solution. Ignorance isn’t always a negative thing.
They also live in the present. They are more mindful than us adults. Ask a child what they plan to do tomorrow or next week or next year and they don’t care. It’s all about the here and now. They don’t care how many sweets they’ll have tomorrow but how many they have now!! Children don’t care about things they have no control over, so why should you and I?
Children also play. Everything is fun. Everything is a game. When you play, you laugh and when you laugh you become happy. Find fun in everything you do, even if it’s not funny. But laugh at the funny things and be happy. I’m sure George Bernard Shaw once said:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing”.
So if I’m a child of the universe as Ehrmann suggests, then who am I to stop playing? From this day forward I’m going to continue to embrace the child in me. If I hear somebody suggesting not to be so childish, I’m going to adopt those very behaviors. I’m going to leave my crusts and not eat them just because I should. Hey I might even start watching innocent kids TV shows again or pick a childish word and use it for the whole day. Sounds like a mega wicked idea!!
Namasté my fellow children.
