WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
DAY 24: A Bit of Light Magic
Winter Lights, N. Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, NC
Awe, wonder and a bit of dancing around, just like the young child close to us, as we walked into the Winter Lights show outdoors at the N. Carolina Arboretum. What pure magic awaited us as we walked through hundreds of displays in the gardens spontaneously singing with the music and certainly with smiles on our faces the entire time!
“When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.”
~Fred Rogers
It felt like being catapulted over the rainbow to the Emerald City or being dropped into a Candy Land game. At one point I could have sworn we were in Wonderland with Alice.
“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
C.S. Lewis
There was just no room at all for seriousness, but huge spaciousness for absolute joy, wonder and awe. Bringing us back to the child within…..
“to that part of us who never forgot the importance of laughing for no particular reason, of imagining far beyond what the rational mind can comprehend, and of sitting in wonder at the miracle we wake to every day.” ~Vince Gowmon
We all have magic inside of us that, if we allow it, transforms our everyday existence into precious moments to see beyond the barriers of conventional mainstream thinking and doing….
and into the wildness of being.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
~Albert Einstein
Now and again it is good to pause in our pursuit of joy and just be joyful. To see the world through the eyes of the child like wonder that is always inside the heart forever.
When we lose our way, and we will, simply see the threshold before you….
…and enter into the magic of all things….
About 31 Days of Joy & Laughter Project:
As elders with a long life behind us and not as much embodied life before us, and as humans on the planet Earth at this time, we are being faced with incredible challenges that compete to take our attention.
A couple of days ago I realized I no longer choose to have my attention taken by the fear, doom and gloom broadcast daily, whether on our smart phones news feed or while talking to others. I am weary of it all and need a higher vibration energy bath!.
It is not that I don’t want to know what is happening in the world, but instead the question I am posing to myself, and to you, every day is – where do we want to place our attention? We most always have a choice.
For the month of December I am placing attention on joy, laughter, creativity and acts of kindness as a experiment to see what unfolds. Seeking out and being aware of moments of joy sometimes hidden in the deep pockets and lining of each and every day that seem to get passed over without even looking back. They are always there.
Each day in December you will find a small nugget of joy, humor, creativity or small act of kindness that found me and pulled my attention which will be posted here. I invite you to join me and share your experiences and what you noticed so that we may spread it around! (Please use the “Comment” section below).
If you don’t want to miss any of these posts simply sign up for the blog here:
http://wildlyfreeelder.com/blog/
You can also find all of the posts in the archives here: http://wildlyfreeelder.com/2021/12/
Gaye Abbott, Natural Passages Consulting, 12/24/21. Please feel free to share this post and link to WildlyFreeElder