September 30, 2012
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towards the light
#whimsh 4.Write an ESSAY or a STORY based on the following picture by @seedsower
What children need: light, rain, trees and someone to hold hands with.
Light: Sunlight, of course, to be outside and feel the sun on their skin. That good Vitamin D stuff. Just to be. But more than sunlight. They need to have light- to know that someone cares about them more than anything. They need to see light. It needs to be there at the turn of a switch or the strike of a match. Or a smile on someone’s face. I’m thinking of that special light that Frodo carried for those darkest places. We all need that kind of light.
Rain: Puddles are fun to play in. Raindrops are soft on the skin. Mudpies and splashing and sliding down slippery hills. Singing in the rain with Fred Astaire. But beyond that, life can’t be too easy. The idea that you can have anything you want whenever you want it can be as damaging to a kid as having nothing. Sometimes a little reminder that one is not the center of the universe, is all that is needed. Sticking your tongue out in the rain singing the only Barney song worth singing. If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops, oh what a rain that would be. Rainy days and Mondays make weekends worth waiting for.
Trees: Something to look up to in wonder. Climbing far above the ground. Something steady but not quite perfectly safe. Oxygen. Beauty. Firewood. Bark to skin knees on the way down. A limb to go out on. A faraway tippytop to aspire to. To marvel at an acorn or one of those maple helicopters and believe that somehow that little marvel becomes a tree. To see the slow progress as a sapling reaches for the sky. To see the passage of time in the rings. To know that left to its own devices, a tree stands through wind and rain. It stands true.
Holding hands: There is so much more to life when holding someone’s hand. Crossing a street for safety. Red rover, red rover. Holding someone in. Keeping someone out. Contact. Running headlong into trouble with a best friend. Holding hands with your partner. I think we’re meant to be close to others.
We’re all children. And I’m not entirely sure that the items in question must be physically present. I can remember the feeling of light and the scent of rain and the awesomeness of trees and sometimes I feel like I’m holding hands with people I’ve never met.
Note to self: don’t work on something for days, you don’t have that kind of staying power.
Comments (23)
your note to yourself made me laugh, and it’s not really true, see: painted chairs. This is a very lovely essay. Light, rain, trees, someone to hold hands with.
I love this…we do all need that kind of light that lights up the dark places. So many truths you captured here in these thoughts.
I love your meditations on things.
When did holding hands go out of fashion and why did it? Loved to play in puddles as a kid.
@Zoz36 - did it? i had no idea. i’m a bigger fan of hand-holding than fashion.
@lanney -
@seedsower - thanks so much. i love this photo.
@ordinarybutloud - easier to maintain focus on something with paint. somehow.
@promisesunshine - good to know.
You’ve outdone yourself..
@seedsower - I like your photo Beth.
holding hands. I can’t remember when I last held someone’s hand. seems it must have been ages ago.
oh,oh,oh. love this, yes, yes, yes. oxoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
@Bels_Kaylar - thanks, kim. hugs right back.
@plantinthewindow - you can hold my hand. wanna play in the rain?
@armnatmom - thanks. almost married lady.
This is lovely.
This is very inspirational!
You have set the bar very high. Grrrr.
@murisopsis - pshaw. you are clever. i have no doubt you’ll come up with something completely different and delightful.
@Aloysius_son - what a nice compliment. thank you.
@songoftheheart -
This is wonderful and old children need sun light and mud puddles especially old gray haired kids.
@Grannys_Place - exactly. climb a tree today?
Good stuff here, no great stuff here.
Yes, we are all children in our needs – they are the same.
On another vein, I am sometimes disturbed by the fact that kids don’t play outside more these days. Instead they are inside on their computers, or on their smart phones or whatever. I don’t see kids just playing together outside like I used to. That’s a shame.
@vexations - thank you.
@curiousdwk - i think kids of today are missing out on the best things. i also think this lack (or what they have replaced it with) is showing up in our society. i’m thinking specifically of schools and sunday school classrooms here (because that’s where i hang out).
anyhow. thanks for your visit and comment.
This was great!!!!
We all need each of these things. Many of us confuse them with other, less wholesome elements, though.
Holding hands and playing gets me every time. I love to hold hands with someone I love and cherish. My grandchildren~ my princes, their hands feel so little in my hand, but they have so much trust and I love that. This is a brilliant post Carrie.