Yesterday, as a family, we went to visit Greys Court for the afternoon. In total there were five of us and I am confident that each of us experienced the ‘place’ according to ourselves. Put differently, each of us experienced ourselves. This became obvious to me as soon as I gave Clea (who is ten years old) a camera and she dived into the world around her. Here are some examples:
a. Where I saw a weed Clea saw a beautiful flower:
b. Where I saw tiny dying (insignificant) Bluebells Clea marvelled at the wonder of these Bluebells
c. Where I saw nothing Clea saw beauty everywhere – in a T-shirt, in a set of buttons on her mothers top, in the grass:
Lessons Learnt
My already existing, always, way of being is not open to wonder. It simply is not. And so I miss the beauty, the wonder, of what is present around me in the simplest things. If I approached the world, from the context, that my daughter approaches it then I would experience the beauty of the world that she experiences. I am totally up for that.
I need to start somewhere so I will become an ‘Apprentice in Wonder’ to my Clea by looking at the world through her eyes. That means giving her a camera so that she can capture what she sees and share that with me. It also means being open to the new.
I have started a (daily) gratitude journal to enable me to capture one aspect of the wonder/beauty of this world that I simply miss because I do not look for it / am not present to it as I take it for granted. You can find it here: http://icanbegratefulfor.wordpress.com/
Maz,
Greetings on Blog#3 :) You might end up writing a new version of 1000Awesome things…
I do not remember the details, but there is a story about a CEO of a store chain who forced his stuff to walk on their knees, to view the shop from the eyes of a child. The camera concept is brilliant, as it gives you a look into Clea’s world – both external (what she sees) and inside (what she cares about).
Arie
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Hello Arie
I thank you for your good wishes and apologise for my later reply. I also thank you for pointing me towards the 1000 Awesome things – I had not come across it before.
The camera thing is really working out well. Clea sees beauty in the most amazing things. Stuff that I simply take for granted like seashells. And it is amazing how they look when photographed up close!
All the best my friend
Maz
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Lesson learnt indeed! Beautiful photos. :-)
You never fail to amaze me Maz!
Thanks for being you!
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Hello Lina Thank you Lina, I hope you are well and invite you to become an Apprentice in Wonder.
Maz
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