As I’ve hinted at before in these posts, being in the now can be another way of saying you are paying attention.
Paying attention, lovingly, often involves curiosity. I feel this when our friend Sarah brings her eleven-month-old daughter Eden to visit. Eden, the mystical-minded creature she is, looks wide-eyed at me and then gets a serious look on her face. She proceeds to crawl repeatedly back and forth over my stretched-out legs as we play on the floor.
One of the easiest things that can happen to us as we grow older and settle into earthly life is that this sense of the mystical begins to fade. Everyday life encroaches and things get heavy. Our ability to pay attention to the world diminishes. Growing old gracefully involves wresting back this attention and the magic that comes with it. Perhaps the secret to being a successful newborn and toddler is the same as the secret to thriving as a person who has celebrated many birthdays.
Can you think of an elder who endeared themselves to you as a child? What was their secret? Please let me know by replying to this email or going to nickymendenhall.com and leaving a comment in the comment section. Click on the blog tab to locate it.
Image: Red Feather Lakes, 2011
