Quiet Moments

Today, I sat in a quiet forest with my daughter and listened to the soft sounds of leaves drifting down from the trees above us. It was magical. It was uplifting. It was exactly what I needed at exactly that moment. And I had to wonder, how long had it been since I'd stopped turning on the wheel of daily life and just sat...and listened....and enjoyed the beauty of a single soft moment?

It had been her to idea to sneak away while "the boys napped" and take a walk together in nature. Boy, am I glad she's full of good ideas! It would've been so easy to rest on the couch, or to grade those papers that are still waiting, but I'm so very thankful we took a moment instead to feed our souls. Indeed, with warm weather and leaves bursting with colors, it was truly a pleasure to simply be. Together.

Of course, being us, we had to take the camera along. Ava was more than willing to pose as we communed with nature. This beautiful child of mine often takes my breath away, but more than that, I often forget she's only four. An old, wise soul resides in that refreshingly youthful body. Yes, she chased leaves, skipped along the road, and giggled like the child she is. Thank God for that! Yet it was her idea, while we rested on a bench, to sit quietly and listen.

Ava: Do you hear that?

Me: What?

Ava: Let's sit here and just listen. That's the sound of the leaves coming down.

(No, my dear, that's the sound of my contented heart beating at your sheer wonderfulness.)

With one simple request, she took me back to my own childhood, a childhood spent wallowing in the beauty of nature. Sometimes it seems I've lost that ability to be quiet, to listen, to soak in the unseen vibrations of life. But today? Today a very special four-year-old helped me rediscover that part of myself. And I couldn't be happier or more thankful for that.

In fact, when we returned home and I browsed through our photos, I was reminded of a quote by John Lennon that I had read just that morning. It seemed so perfectly suited to our day that I hunted it up so that I could share it here with everyone.

‎"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life." — John Lennon

I felt so blessed to experience a piece of that happiness today, and I hope everyone discovers such moments in their own lives as well.