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Finding Wonder Again
Last week, on a windy night, I discovered this swing on the high floor of a nearby building.
And just like that, I became a little girl again.
I felt that same rush of excitement I had when my late father brought home a swing for me - much bigger than this one, but oh, the joy was the same. The anticipation. The wonder of something so simple holding so much possibility.
Standing there in the wind, I found myself curious all over again. What would it feel like to sit on it? To sway gently in the night air? To be suspended between earth and sky?
Beginner's mind - that quality of approaching each moment as if for the first time. Children have it naturally. We adults have to remember it. That night, I remembered. 😇
But here's what was different this time: I was aware of the magic as it was happening. When I was a child on that swing my father gave me, I just lived it - pure, unconscious joy. This time, I experienced it mindfully. I noticed the excitement bubbling up. I felt the wind on my skin. I saw the moon casting shadows. I sensed my father's presence in the memory, in the moment, in the simple gift of a swing.
Mindfulness doesn't diminish wonder - it amplifies it. I thought reliving childhood moments as an adult might feel lesser, dimmed by years and loss and knowing how life really works. But it wasn't. It was still magical. If anything, more magical, because I was fully present to savour it.
I sat on that swing. Moved gently back and forth. Felt like a child and an adult simultaneously - remembering and experiencing, grieving and celebrating, then and now all woven together.
My father is gone. But that night, in that swing, in that beginner's mind moment, he was right there with me. In the excitement. In the curiosity. In the simple pleasure of something that moves you through the air.
I love you, Papa. ❤️🩹
Sometimes we don't need new experiences to feel alive. We just need to bring fresh eyes to what's right in front of us. A swing. A memory. A windy night. A heart willing to wonder again.
May you rediscover something that once brought you joy. And may you experience it with the freshness of a beginner's mind, as if for the very first time.
#Mindfulness #BeginnersMind #ChildlikeWonder #Presence #Memory #SimpleJoys #FindingMagic
🌷 from Linda's desk at Tulip Meadows 🌷
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