Inspiration
Articles to inspire authentic living on the topics of resilience, spirituality, and self-growth with touches of storytelling, depth, and humor.
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Catch and Release
Through my adult eyes, fishing has become a great source of life metaphors. And because I could not let the lessons pass, I started finding analogies between the art of fishing and an area of my life that continues to be my savior and my quickest ticket to confusion and sadness at the same time. Fishing, I have found, has a lot of parallelisms with intuition.
Both fishing and intuition require an act of faith. We can’t see what is underwater or what can come swimming in our direction. However, the true fisherman remains loyal to his belief in the ocean’s abundance, regardless of what can be seen at the moment.
Of Hiding and Seeking and Finding Our Inner Voices
HIde-and-seek: the universal game where getting lost is only half the fun.
Recently, my almost four-years old wanted to play hide-and-seek and of course, I obliged. We spent some time in the backyard, taking turns between counting to ten and finding good hiding places. Listening to his infectious laugh when he was either hiding or trying to find me was so adorable! The beauty of playing this game with a toddler is that there is no discretion on what constitutes a good hiding place. Anything would do, even if half your body is exposed. And then, his laugh is so loud that even if he found the perfect camouflage, the giggles would give him away. To make it even cuter, if I asked “where could Leo be?” he would scream “here!” The innocence of children!
The importance of hide-and-seek is that is teaches kids the concept of object permanence. When they first discover the game, babies think that when they put their hands or a blanket over their eyes, things stop existing. By their toddler years, they learn that things or people still exist even when they cannot see them.
But I am not a teacher or a psychologist. I am not as concerned with this game’s developmental advantages other than those that interest me as a mother. However, yesterday in the midst of my son’s giggles and us practicing counting numbers and seeing how fast I could find a spot to hide I realize there is a big lesson for my spirit in this game.
Life is just a dance
Dance can be a lot of things: a workout, an art form, a hobby, a career, an entertainment, a party starter, a way to connect with others, a way to connect with our body. It is also one of the most freeing activities because, among many other things, it requires us to be absolutely present. It is mindfulness; it is heart, head and soul in unison.
That being said, my mind started wondering slightly today while dancing. As I was moving my whole body I realized that dance is the perfect analogy for life.