Today I was filled with gratitude. It is often my mantra as the day goes on to pray and meditate upon the things that I am thankful for. Inevitably, none of the things I am thankful for have anything to do with material possessions. Instead, it is my life with my family and people whom I love that make my heart filled with joy on a daily basis. I have made a conscious choice to not clutter my life with material possessions and instead focus my energy upon experiences and my family. Over this last year I have really learned to embrace simplicity and find joy in small things. It has been my hope to pass this on to Emerson and today I realized, without trying, I have. I was reflecting upon our play in the last week and all of E's favorite toys were not "must-have-plastic-Einstein-toys".
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| Playing with the pop up picture inside the Vocalpoint box. |
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| Drum made from more Vocalpoint packaging |
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| Reading the newspaper with Daddy |
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| Helping in the kitchen |
Surprisingly, Emerson was just as delighted with our homemade toys as any other toy we have for her. It is amazing that children are equipped to be content with what they have, while often, as adults we struggle to find that same joy and peace. It is definitely something I know I continually work on, but for now, I think I'll just take some lessons from my daughter.
How do you find joy in simple things?
Alison,
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend we watched the movie Babies on Netflix.
It seemed to showcase this concept of less is just fine. The babies in Mongolia and Africa seemed to be more contented than the ones in the USA and Japan who had lots of stuff, classes and playdates. Perhaps that was the intent of the film?
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Tonya,
ReplyDeleteIsn't Babies just the most beautiful film? I totally agree with your point. The child in Africa was perfectly happy playing with a rock and the children in Japan and San Fran were comparatively "boring" playing with their oodles of toys. I don't know if less is more was the point of the film, but it certainly made me feel like I was not depriving E!
Thanks for the comment.