After school hours saw pairs of little legs running in the ground near home. An unexpected cloud burst resulted in these tiny legs scampering back into the shelter, while frantic adults made their way to the clothesline to grab and rush the dry linen back to safety. As the hours had passed and the sun had decided for an early night, the little legs balanced themselves cross-legged on the porch making little boats, listening for the croaking of frogs and catch a few droplets on the little palms. As the night grew stronger, the night meal was in tune with the stories of the stars above. The entire evening had a feeling of completeness, contentment and unclouded happiness.
“I always think of each night as a song. Or each moment as a song. But now I’m seeing we don’t live in a single song. We move from song to song, from lyric to lyric, from chord to chord. There is no ending here. It’s an infinite playlist.” David Levithan
Happiness arises from the simple things of life. Seeing through those little eyes, on learns to appreciate the simple pleasures, gifts as well as beauty of the present day, in those basic minutes. From grumbles of early rising to their joy in discovering that one can make a bridge with their forks to make milk bubbles to their unfettered joy on catching the lady bug on the leaf before the bus arrives, all these moments while taken in a hurry by the adult mind, later in silence acknowledge that these memories are quite priceless.
Be it the blooming buds and chirping of birds, to the tune of Spring, the hot summer days of lush green and impromptu picnics or lemonade runs, the colured piles of autumn leaves to jump into and the wintry snowfalls with decoration of the trees with multicolored lights, paper chains and pocketfuls of ginger snaps, these captured moments are what grace the memories of childhood as well as lighten the adult mind.
One doesn’t need to go far to be happy. As one learns from children, happiness is always there in their own backyard. It may be in a form far from expected, but it will always be there waiting to be experienced and added to the treasure chest of memories. Isn’t it a blessing to watch it all, just to be in it and to feel the warmth of life ? To work for the love of family and prepare for the future is important. Yet the most important thing is to appreciate the present.
“Close your eyes, imagine that you are five years old, and look out the window again. Imagine that you still do not need to choose what to believe, because there is no choice – everything is one, everything is indivisible. There is no need to search for meanings, endow anything else. You still confuse “yesterday” and “tomorrow” simply because time has no cuts, it does not even last, it just is. And you just are, and this is practically invulnerable and categorically immortal. And a slice An amber melon or a mug of fresh raspberries makes you absolutely, absolutely happy … ” E. Kasyan
Sugar And Spice... Among Other Things 