So I decided to take a much needed break and enjoy the sunshine with paints and my 2-year-old. I have my paints ready and set out some for Kestan with his own book. Ahh, great...everything is perfect. The birds are singing, not a cloud in the sky, the flowers are in bloom and I'm enjoying a clean patio (that we worked all weekend on!)
But, Kestan had other ideas. He wanted to paint on mommy's paper. At first I could feel a sense of resistance creep up. "But this is my journal," I thought. I took a deep breath and let go of expectations that this was going to be the perfect moment for creating.
As we started painting together, this experience turned into a new assignment for my class participants, which included encouraging them to explore their unique brush strokes.
In fact, Kestan gave me a great idea on how to make cool strokes with an old toothbrush!
I could have easily given up, put all the paints away and gotten frustrated that my perfect moment was ruined. But instead, letting go of the idea that I must find the perfect moment for creating, I ended up discovering new things about my little boy and myself. I learned that I still have tendencies to be uptight, despite my practice in letting go and implementing more play into my life. And I was reminded, once again, that Kestan is my true teacher.
We both got lost in the moment - together. We played. We used our imaginations. We had fun! And we created something that is imperfectly wonderful.
Your Personal Reflection: Do you wait for the perfect moment to create? Does that moment ever come? How can you practice creating more in the middle of things, while letting go of perfect?
