Tuesday, March 22, 2011

inspired

I'm inspired today by two posts, which I just have to share…

One is by Stephanie of Ordinary Life Magic. It's beautiful. It's about happiness.

One is by Jennifer, my friend from FourSeeds. It is stunning. It is about the spirit.


It can be this simple. Finding the Happy. Finding the Sacred. Finding Joy.


The other night, the kids were snuggled into our Big Family Bed. My son doesn't normally go to bed there, and I could hear them whispering to each other as I came upstairs to say good night. So instead of coming straight in to say goodnight, I went to my boy's room, and pretended he was there.

Now, if you're thinking this kind of behaviour is reserved for infants and toddlers, I can tell you, it shouldn't be! It was really funny. I said some truly ridiculous things; I could hear them laughing hard in the other room. And the whole time, I had this huge smile on my face.

Then I went to say goodnight to my girl. Didn't acknowledge that my boy was there (actually I think he was hiding under a blanket). I know—they're 8 and 10. Too old for such games, right?! I say, NEVER.

Then I went downstairs, without saying good night to my boy. I stopped 2/3 of the way down and could hear whispering.
"Has she gone?"
"Yeah."
"No, I don't think she has," etc.

Suddenly, I raced upstairs, feet thumping on the wood, and tore into the room, and leaped onto my boy. I wrestled him until he was in a huge, all-body Mama Hug. He shrieked, he yelled; both kids fell apart with laughter. Suddenly we were in this enormous pile of bodies as my girl joined in the hug. We were laughing so hard.

So hard in fact that my boy got asthma and I had to give him his puffer. But it was worth it. It was, in fact, awesome.

There was our Happy. There, in that moment, was our Spirit—which is, and will always be, Love.

I'm so glad I took the time to do something unsensible, something that totally wound the kids up and made bedtime late.

I'm so glad I took the time to find my Joy.

I hope you find yours today too.

with Love,

Helena

10 comments:

  1. Too old for fun? NEVER! 8 and 10 is still little in my books! Finding joy is a wonderful pass time! Yep! I would so be there! Hugs lovely xoxox

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  2. Awww, I'm with you - they're never too old for fun! For love - for acceptance and embraces. It does a spirit good. :)

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  3. Lovely story. My Lilah and I have little things we do like that - we have our own extra special tuck in routine that involves nose rubbing, head patting and cheek kissing. We also have a similar routine "lumpy" that she would kill me if I wrote about! Enjoy it for as long as you can. I will miss those little things when they are all grown up!

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  4. Love this. I love mySELF so much more when I am carefree with my kids. I can be free on my own or with friends, but buckle down too much with my kids (which is weird, since I think I am considered the "loose mom" in my neighborhood...).

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  5. Loose as in relaxed. Not as in "slutty."

    Geesh.

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  6. gorgeous Helena, and I think it is far too precious to stop as well, they are never too old for love and fun. I loved the dragon flag tutorial as well- thankyou, we are so going to be doing that.

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  7. Hello this is me Kei. For school we are learning about animals in Australia and I was thinking that maybe you could tell me more about animals like: Wombat,Sugar Glider,Koalas,Bilby,and Potoroos? Thanks so much I love your blog.
    Kei<3

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  8. I agree with Karisma. Too old for fun?? My Mother always told me that it was important to keep a 'childlike' part of you. Then she would say, "Not CHILDISH, childlike" :)

    Me and Kei have tons of silly rituals...I fully expect this to continue until she is at least 48. ;)

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  9. Nah - never too old for fun! My DS (11) was crawling around under a blanket today - I pretended he was a rock that kept moving - great fun! Loved your story - thanks for sharing!

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I love hearing from you! Thank you for your heartfelt, thoughtful responses—they lift me, and give me light.