When was the last time you looked at things in life as through a child’s eyes?
I read a great post today, Once Upon A Child, by Danny Brown. I love what Danny said, “Our minds are so free as kids. We imagine anything and everything. Our creativity knows no limits and our imagination is boundless.”
Danny made me think. In fact, I decided to give Annie’s Goat Hill (myself) an assignment. This month I will be blogging about the things I look at with fresh eyes, allowing myself to look at things with no (fewer?) limits, with imagination.
When I was a child I loved to draw. I drew a lot of animals (horses, cows, cats and dogs). Then I started drawing interiors of houses. Seriously! I drew floor plans, along with furniture and appliances, drawn to-scale. I even hoarded the family Sears and JC Penny catalogs to see what the latest carpet, paint, and drapery colors were. I still recognize my love for animals. But interior design? Not so much. I was absolutely fascinated by it, with ruler and pencil in hand, hours and hours of imagination.
So…today I forced myself to not touch a computer ALL DAY LONG. Instead I raked (most) of the goat barn. I hand washed my truck. I did a lot of healthy things, outdoorsy things, things that got me up and active. We all need that! But, guess what else I did? I sat in the barn with the goats. One by one the dairy girls came in and nibbled on my chin. Even Annie, the farm namesake, a boer goat with an attitude, came in to visit. I recently read a story about a photographer who got down on the ground, and in the water, at eye level, with the alligators. I wouldn’t want to take that risk, but he did. He found himself understanding the creatures at a level he didn’t expect to know, and he took photographs that were extremely unique. He used his imagination, and he set his fear aside. He learned a lot. We can learn a lot by getting down to eye level, as I did today. We don’t just feed the hay and the grain, we see the magic of the animals that we tend to. We see the magic of the world that surrounds us.
Tomorrow I will continue this challenge (both business and personal). It should be enjoyable and I look forward to sharing the adventure with you. If you want to join me in this trek, leave your comments. I would love to hear what you discover!
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I believe that imagination is a lost pleasure in the world of adult responsibility. As a 40 something yr. old mom to a 5 year old boy, I didn’t realize just how much imagination I had abandoned in adulthood. Not anymore! I enjoy rediscovering the world on a child’s level of understanding. I totally love getting right into the world of imagine with my son as we go on adventures to far away lands and seas, where a simple kite becomes a flying machine, a tree becomes a robot or a beloved toy comes alive with stories to share. We watch clouds, make up silly songs and even do wild, crazy dances for no reason at all. The way I see it, it’s part of enjoying life as if has been given to us. We don’t have to be and shouldn’t ever be ALL grown up ALL the time, right?
That is what I am talking about! Stick with me on this, the 30 days of seeing through the eyes of a child. You are going to add a big gift to the discussion! “We don’t haveto be and shouldn’t ever be ALL grown up ALL the time.”
The last time I saw life through a child’s eye was at Christmas time when 4 of my niece’s and nephew were here at our farm!
My 90 year-old Grandma is kind of like a child now since she has some form of dementia, it is sad seeing her this way since she doesn’t understand why she has to be in the Memory Support Unit which is the lower level where my other Grandma used to be while her new room was being built. Now whenever we visit with my Mom’s Mom (my 90 year-old Grandma) she doesn’t understand why she can’t come home with us or back to her parent’s house which her husband has been gone for 6 years now, her brother also has been gone for 6 years, her sister has been gone for I think 28 years (she went to the airport with my Mom to bring me home) and her parent’s have been gone for a long time.
My Mom, my Uncle, and I are just her friends but she knows my Dad by name.
Amy
Hi Amy, those types of diseases are sad. I am sure your dad, and all of your family, appreciates that your grandmother sees your family as friends, and your dad by name. We have a friend with Alzheimer’s disease. They recently tested her with the results being the mentality of a 2 year old. Child-like? Yes. She loves her stuffed cats and has to be helped to do everything. The biggest thing is, though, she still loves to laugh. She gets delight out of the simplest of things, like a small child would. I am glad she can be happy being in the state that she is. God bless.
Hi Mary,
Yes, it is sad, I made her a couple scrapbook type photo books with my Mom’s help for 2 Christmases in a row and she does enjoy those, she usually knows who they are but she stops at a picture of my Uncle (her son) and asks who that is and we tell her it’s her son. She used to tell everyone when she lived in the Assisted Living part that she had no children, they were dead.
She still has her sense of humor though and we got her a stuffed cat for Christmas this year and she loves it and holds and talks to it, it’s name changes every time we go there but she always has loved cats, in her new room we put everything that she loves and they have a cabinet outside their room that you can decorate for each season, she also loves Cat’s Meow so we took her some up last time for the Spring season.
She has to be watched closely now since she has fallen out of bed several times within the couple of weeks, they had to bring in a lower bed for her. I printed off a 4 generation picture of my Mom, my Mom’s Granny holding my brother, and my Grandma, she didn’t even know herself or anyone in the picture which is kind of unusual since she usually knows her own Mom (my Mom’s Granny). We’re amazed she made it to 90 though. But now whenever we get ready to leave, she says to my Mom “You’re leaving me, can’t you take me home?” We know she’s getting the care she needs in the Memory Support Unit since there’s always activities for them to do, etc.
Amy
Sounds like fun! I like looking at things from a different point of view, like from the eyes of one of the dogs or horses here on the farm. I’m always making comments as if talking for them. I always tell people that they have the mind of a small child so their(my) thoughts can be quite comical. It puts smiles on my family’s face.
Now you’ve got me thinking about what else I could see with “fresh” eyes?!
You have me thinking once again too.
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