Nurturing Awe and Wonder
When have you last unleashed your giggling exuberance? Has it been too long since you last giggled? Has it been too long since you last heard within yourself a small child’s ‘Aaahhh” of wonder? Do you still remember how it is to be a child? This post is for you who still do, and this is specially for you who have forgotten.
Think of children splashing around in a swimming pool, children happily flying kites, children sailing paper boats down the stream, children playing piko, siyato and hide and seek, children racing down the street on kiddie bikes…
Think of children giggling, their eyes glistening with unbounded joy and energy and appreciation of the good and wondrous around them.
To a child, a rainbow is a big surprise in the sky. To most adults like us, it is just an array of colors that shows up usually after the rain.
To a child, a 50-storey office is an amazing engineering feat. To most adults like us, it is a symbol of a stressful corporate world.
When a child sees stars, he tries to count them with so much optimism. He, however, does not get disappointed when he is not able to count them all. When an adult sees stars, he would immediately think of the impossibility of counting them.
Too often, we are caught exhaustively in a whirlwind of busyness. We become so preoccupied with work and other concerns that we forget the real things that matter. Our eyes are glazed over by worldly things that sometimes we cannot see anymore the beauty of the world around us and the people who love us. Worse, we even fail to be in touch with ourselves and, in the process, forget who we really are.
So I hope that when we wake up tomorrow, we will try to open our senses to the universe, much like a child does, and be mindful of those magical moments that celebrate the gentleness of life and the little slices of God’s handiwork.
“there’s no better sight than a laughing child”…Bear of “Bear in the Big Blue House”
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nortehanon Reply:
September 9th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Nice, Deth.
Alam mo bang paminsan-minsan ay pinanonood ko pa rin yan hanggang ngayon?hehehe
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hehehe.. i am childish in some ways like the love for the stars, the curiosity for some unusual flowers and for those simple things that can make me smile so easily… =)
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I remember bringing my son to my office at the 42nd floor of a building and to say he was amazed was an understatement. I wish I can look at my office window and stare down with the same wonder
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That’s why I love working with children.
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At my age, I live one day at a time. Part of my day is to be like a child…i love to play, walk, laugh & smile, be with my love ones, watch the sunrise, hold & smell the flowers, watch the birds, gaze at the clouds, smell the grass, watch the babies & the children play, thanking God for all the beauty around me…hayy ang ganda ng mundo kaya I nurture every moments in my life…yun bang parang wala ng tomorrow. Ganun naman ang buhay…tapos na yung kahapon…live & enjoy the present na para bang tomorrow might never come.
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Sarap talaga maging bata.
Naalala ko tuloy yung korning text message “When I was a kid I couldn’t wait to grow and fall in love, now that I am old I realized that wounded knees are easier to heal than broken hearts.” (teka, di sya masyadong sakto but something to this epek hehehe)
uyyy.. champion ako sa siyato nung bagets ako!
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in every child’s heart is an eye so pure, no biases, no discrimination. there’s always a room for awe and wonder. nakakainggit. i am no longer a child.
yet, now that i am old, i believe i have given the capacity to pursue these virtues: purity of the heart and sensitivity of the eyes to easily see the beauty in everything. mahirap ito. i need patience and determination– a gift for those who are no longer a child.
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ang ganda nito Miss N.. I am amazed on your writing style!
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i really love looking at every child’s face. it’s so pure.
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wow…now this is something everybody must’ve taught long tym ago..LOLs…
life simple pleasures..love it..^,^
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There are times when my prayer in the morning would be for God to open my eyes to His miracles and His wonders that He has laid waiting for me…
When I go out for a shoot, this is also my silent prayer…
Indeed, we all need the childlike awe and wonder… It makes us realize that life is beautiful and while not everything in this world is nice, there’s more to life than sorrow and suffering. There are more causes for celebration…
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I want to be a kid once again even for just a day! Nice article so meaningful and mind opening one.
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nakakamiss maging bata, at sayang nagmadali ako at maagang nagmature kaya di ko naenjoy ng husto ang kabataan ko,huhu
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That could be the difference between grown ups and kids.
They don’t complicate things.
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haay, miss n., wala ako problema sa pagtawa. i laughe everyday! i am so much like a child in many ways! [minsan di ko alam kung tama ba o mali]…so much so that one even thought i was only 25 years old because of my being childlike [i hope not childish]. he! he!
i firmly believe that we should always be childlike at heart. it’s a better way to live!
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waaaahhhh… gusto ko maligo sa ulan!!!
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waahhh.. namiss ko tuloy mga pamangkin ko.
pwamiz ako ng pwamiz na ipapasyal sila, pero ala lang, lagi kong sabi, busy ako. toinks..
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Very beautiful reminder on relishing the child within all of us! Life is too short to set it aside and replace it with the idea of control, success, failure, getting there, or owning. Thanks Miss N!
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when i want to remember how to be a child again, i just close my eyes and think of my little angels. hanggang ngayon kasi ay nakatatak pa rin sa isip ko ang mga tawa at halakhak ng babies ko. namimiss ko na sila. malaking parte ng childhood years nila ang napaglipasan ko na. gusto ko na ulit marinig ang mga tawa nila.
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happiness is being children. while we can’t go back to that time in our lives, we’ve got memories to keep it alive.
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ang sarap talagang maging bata, palaging masaya at walang alam na problema, sige lang ipakita nyo ang ngiti nyo, hindi lahat ng bata nakakahalakhak tulad niyo….
just be thankful sa lahat ng nagyayari sa atin.
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unleashed the child within…..this is the key to authentic happiness…seeing the world from the eyes of a child…salamat…btw..nagbabalik na ako sa ere..after 40 days og vacation sa pinas…
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Hi Ms. N!
Kakamiss naman maging bata, simple lang ang buhay, makikipaglaro sa mga kakulitan, parang walang problema. Madali lang sumaya kapag ikaw ay bata pa.
Ang hilig ko naman nun maglaro ng clay! kahit napapalo na ko ng mommy ko dahil halos buong tiles sa loob ng bahay nagkakaron nun kapag naglalaro ako. hahaha.
Ang saya!
those were the days.
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Thanks for this post!!! Optimism at its finest. I badly need something like this, a breather..
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Ah, to be a child again…the times when we cannot wait to be old enough to do things we want…
Very timely as I have a tag waiting for you in my blog.
http://thisrandomness.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-old-is-old.html
I am pretty sure you can come up with something really good. Have fun!
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pa hop ulet..hehehe..gud morning ! ^,^
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Hi Nortehanon – I love your blog. Nice write-ups; countryside pictures remind me of my childhood.
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Hi Ms. N. Nakakatuwa naman yung mga bata sa picture.. ang ganda ng kanilang ngiti
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