“Children’s Song”
We live in our own world,
A world that is too small
For you to stoop and enter
Even on hands and knees,
The adult subterfuge.
And though you probe and pry
With analytic eye,
And eavesdrop all our talk
With an amused look,
You cannot find the centre
Where we dance, where we play,
Where life is still asleep
Under the closed flower,
Under the smooth shell
Of eggs in the cupped nest
That mock the faded blue
Of your remoter heaven.
–By R.S. Thomas
Ours is a fast-paced world these days, filled with endless things to do and a constant race to finish the day, just to wake up and run it again. As my own children grow older, I see them losing the magic they found in their younger years. It makes me sad. The world truly is different in the eyes of a child. They see endless ideas and magic-filled playtime with fairies, and dragons and castles and so much more. Their imaginations are truly a treasure to behold.
While visiting the Nokota horses last month, I was lucky to capture the fun-filled playtime of these beautiful twins. We walked around the farm and explored and we searched for the magical ideas they see through their eyes and their minds. I had so much fun with them! It reminded me of this poem. While I remember parts of my childhood and the secret worlds we created when we played, I am too big to crawl back into that world now. The enchanted world of a child is a treasure. Perhaps if we stopped racing though life, we might find traces of those secret gardens we once played in. We might find the wonderment of laying in the grass and looking for the shapes in the clouds and searching the wooded paths for the fairies and pixies. Maybe we’d even find our hidden castles on the hillside with our own “Neverending Story” creatures to fly us through the skies!
What a gift to to see the world through the eyes of these adorable girls and their sisters for a brief time. It was magical!
Beautiful post. I love spending time with young children. They have a way of slowing me down and bringing my world into greater focus- I see colors brighter and hear the sounds of the beautiful world clearer. Children are truly gifts.