Tag Archives: Children

Seen it all before?

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In my varied attempts lately to inspire and intrigue my son, I often find that I just as effectively intrigue myself.  Things that, according to majority of people you talk to, should not make any significant impression on an adult (since we’ve all seen it all before), will have me buzzing with inspired energy for days.  I take my son to see all the airplanes at a small local airport, for instance, and he is so overwhelmed by the glory of it all that he nearly hyperventilates.

And as I watch him, I realize that I am excited too.  I am reminded of the feelings that I had when I was a girl.  The excitement about flying.  The desire to become a pilot.  But it’s not just nostalgia.  It is here and now.  A childlike embracing of the present moment.  Maybe I am not two years old, but I have never seen the cockpit of a plane this close before, and darn it, it’s cool!

I am also inspired by the kindness of the people that we encounter.  The immediate drive of these people to share their passions with a small child in the hopes that it may become their passion too.  A local fireman who just had his first son, eager to practice his new role on this enthusiastic toddler, will do nearly anything to impress him.

How often do we see this kindness, this passion in the people we encounter day-to-day?  It is so beautiful that I feel like I have connected myself to these lives.  They have forever made and impression on me and hopefully we have made a small one on them as well.

The Idea Behind the Blog – Making Our Own Happiness

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I have learned over the course of my increasingly fast-paced years, that happiness is not something that happens to us.  It is not delivered to our doorstep with a nice red bow on top, just waiting to be opened and enjoyed.  Of course life has its surprising moments that utterly grip us and take our breath away.  But for the most part, I believe, happiness is something we make.   Fulfillment is something we enjoy when we learn to stop taking the little things for granted.  If we constantly brush off all of life’s tiny little beauties because they are ordinary, unimportant, or we’re simply too busy to bother, then we will surely see the color fade out of life and happiness will be hard to come by.  Because, let’s face it, if we wait for the eventful, the enormous, the extraordinary to bring us joy, those moments will be few and far between.  My two year old son has been an amazing teacher of this this lesson.  To him, everything is new.  Everything is amazing.  The tiniest things that we as adults have come to see as commonplace,  can make him quiver with excitement and curiosity.  And, as his primary playmate, I too am learning to be excited with him.  To share in his enthusiasm rather than squelch it.  And, in some ways, he has become more of an influence on me than I have on him.  It is my goal in writing this blog to share that influence with any who care to read.  To find little lights of inspiration and beauty in every day life and highlight them for myself and others to take notice.  To help create happiness.  To appreciate now the things that we’ll remember later.

Photo taken by Reeta Allen in May 2010