The One Hundred Day Creative Challenge: Day 13
A small child chases a butterfly giggling and shrieking with delight as it flies away. He falls down onto the ground and rolls down a grassy knoll. More giggles erupt as limbs fling and fly around. Hi clothes are muddied and grass stained, a shoe once tightly laced has takes flight and lands in a flowerbed.
The boy smiles in that cheeky reckless daring way that three year olds have. He lies on his back studying the clouds. Seahorses, princesses, elephants and castles form wondrous stories in the sky as the clouds blow in the wind. He belly laughs as his imagination takes him to places outside time and space and adult sensibilities.
A child pays attention and finds delight. In finding delight he pays attention. As creative people if we take the time to focus on the details, breathe, slow down and observe life around us with child-like openness we will find delight.
The challenge for today is to take delight in the details. To create out of delight rather than necessity or compulsion or deadlines.
For me that means going for a walk and enjoying the bush. I’ll breathe in the eucalyptus soaked air. Listen to the warbling song of magpies. Look out over the valley and watch the sun go down. I might even run along a gravel track and revel in the joy of using my body just for fun.
I love this photo of my friend’s little girls. They dressed in their tutus and ran around holding hands delighting in each other and delighting in each other.
This has become a cliché, but I love it:
You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.
William W. Purkey
