With Childlike Wonder

A few days ago my granddaughter greeted me in the early morning by saying, “Gramma, look at the sunrise; it is beautiful and the colors are so pretty!”  I came over to look and exclaimed, “It is beautiful!”  Then she said to me, “Gramma you should take a picture.”  I said, “By the time I get my clothes on and my camera, the colors will be gone.”  With unmatched enthusiasm and determination, she says to me, “May I use your little camera to take a picture?”  I said, “Yes, if you take it through the window.”  (It was near freezing and she was in light pajamas.)   So she snapped about 6 pictures.  With a wry smile, she turns around, gives me the camera and I set it aside until I could upload them onto my computer.  But she doesn’t stop there; she is looking at the light on the wall.  “Gramma!”  with enthusiasm, “Look at the light, it is orange!”  She was speaking of the light on the front room wall.  Soon it turns peach and then yellow and all the while she is exclaiming to me the virtues of her new found discovery.   We talked a little bit about why the light is different colors, not that she might fully understand this yet, but to plant seeds of knowledge.  But she encapsulated a perfect way to greet a day.

Just Think What You'd have Missed!

After I sat for a while and thought about this exchange, I could not help but be reminded of the wonder and enchantment of her childlike curiosity.  The eagerness to learn and to seize the moments before it would escape them completely.  Do I approach my day with unbridled curiosity and seize the moments that are but fleeting?  Do I find I am ready when they present themselves to me and throw off the bowlines to all abandon?  Do I miss special moments because I’m not looking or if I am looking do I see, and if I see; am I motivated to preserve it either in my mind’s eye, with a sketch or through the lens?   It seemed so ordinary to me.   Yet, immersing ourselves in moments of childlike splendor should not be something as artists we left back in our childhood, but we should practice keeping ourselves aware and breathing in the things that are around us.  Who knows what awaits us tomorrow in this world?   Today, the storm clouds rolled in and the morning sun was hidden, a different sense of wonder today as the leaves ripple to the ground in the wind of the day.  I don’t know what tomorrow may bring in wonder or excitement, but I think I shall be prepared to breathe it all in and find a way to present those moments in a way I don’t want to forget and give others a glimpse of it too!

I believe as adults we still have those moments of sheer awe and amazement.  Probably too few.  It usually takes an unusual moment or experience.  I’m certain too few. 

My hike to Mt. LeConte was definitely one of those.  As I looked over the vast expanse of the mountains and the fall colors muted because of the atmosphere, kept me breathless and enthralled, almost motionless.  It was a feast for my eyes and health for my lungs.  It was a splendor that would not be matched.  The day was glorious in sunshine and brisk with the fall air, snow hovered in the shadows trying to keep from melting in the warmth of the sun as the day moved forward.  It was a wonderland and it was filled with incredible scenery and splendor!    

I think I will have you walk with me to the top and back down next time you stop by here.