~
quick’ning beating heart
flooding back and forth, red blood
rest and sleep must wait.
~
Children are much more transparent with what makes them come alive. Mere moments with my son and you’d know how in love he is with playing, creating and all things ball. He flashes a wide smile, his eyes get big and he chatters incessantly about ramps and tunnels as soon as he opens his eyes first thing in the morning.
Me? I have many interests but I don’t know if any of them are all that transparent. I kind of wish they were. I want to smile big as soon as I wake up when I think about all the fun things I get to do or see or be. But I’m not sure that’s the case with me. I’ve learned to temper, maybe even mask, my excitement.
I get it. We grow up and outgrow our childish ways. Some may say that’s just life. But as I wonder if it has to be so, my gut tells me no. And oddly, this brand of possibly naive defiance makes me come alive.
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What makes you come alive?
Do the things that make you come alive become transparent within moments of meeting you?
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Itty bitty haiku linking up with One Shot Wednesday and Imperfect Prose.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I have to admit, I am quite open with my enthusiasm. It drives some around me crazy, and I can be quite self-conscious about it. I’m loud, and enthusiastic. When I’m loving something, I just want everyone to know. It makes me feel better too!
I find people like you quite energizing and great company, Christine. Enthusiasm is contagious and I share your tendency to want others to know when I’m loving something.
no way i am outgrowing mine…lol. i can be a bit of an excitement junky and maybe one day that will catch up with me…i like being new places, with new faces and meeting new people as well…gets me going…
A daredevil poet, painter and rapper, yeah, i can definitely see that about you, Brian. Good for you for being able to keep your inner four year old lightcshining.
Belinda,
This post hits me right in the gut. I’ve haven’t feeling that “excitement” you’re talking about in awhile. You are so right about children and how they seem to keep their joy of life and celebrate it in their play. They wake up ready to go and enjoy life!
Great question. I think my kids see me “alive” and my closest friends, but it’s not immediate. I can ramble, jabber, be giddy when it’s something I’m passionate about. But I have to be relaxed and comfortable. I make some pretty quirky sound effects if I’m really into it. I seem to even make up my own phrases. I do think this all fades with age. My “pedal” isn’t as far to the floor as it used to be. My daughter can talk nonstop even if no one responds to her!
Reading a wonderful passage from a book, eating ice cream and just hearing my daughter’s laughter. I am boisterous about the things that I love and equally loud about things that don’t please me. But I think both are a means of feeling alive.
My son’s silly musings and delicious laughter definitely do it for me. Then there’s music, art, a really great book or story that transport me to a different place, wow. I’m reflecting about what I’m more vocal about and I think that I tend to voice what displeases me (because I have a tendency to go from local to global within minutes!) more than what makes me happy.
My children make me come alive. I love being with them! I love to travel to a new place and explore all the special places there. I love art and music and books. So much to be grateful for.
I love watching my five-year-old light up when he’s doing something fun. Kids seem to have no inhibitions! I remember when I was a kid being a lot more comfortable in my body – doing handstands, tumbles, skipping around, really enjoying inhabiting my body. I’ve found as an adult that when I behave that way, really letting go of embarrassment or decorum and moving my body in a way that seems fun and natural, it opens me up and I feel like a kid again.
It’s interesting to me how much we can lose touch with our physical bodies as we get older.
I appreciate your visit and comment … I think photography keeps me enthused with life.
I find that people make me come alive — real, fresh community. Hearing heart stories, having compassion, living alongside each other.
Dear Belinda
Oh Yes!!! Rest and sleeping must wait.. lovely and vivid imagery in your words… Thanks for sharing…
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/02/whispers-tanka-and-search-for-being.html
Connect with me at Twitter @VerseEveryDay
What an interesting thought. Kids are easier as they have yet to learn to hide what they love or they just love without thought or being consumed with all that they don’t love that has to get done. For my daughter, it is the Sax. She loves it… the idea of playing it is enough to send her spinning and jumping. I remember when it was once ballet… the irony – she does ballet moves all the time as she just love… life.
For me, it is travel. The idea of traveling gets me very excited or exploring something new… change can do it to when it is not dropped in my lap from out of the blue… But I want to have that joy about work – about cleaning the house and doing laundry! Is that possible?
oh belinda, i know… what happened to our excitement? to our child-like wonder? how to tap into it while doing the adult thing? thank you for this…
Maybe you mask your excitement because you’ve experienced disappointment? Or maybe not.
That picture makes me come alive – I love to ski!
i love seeing my son’s eyes light up at the world around him–that childlike wonder. beautiful post!