I’m sitting right now in the Portland International Airport awaiting my flight back home after a great day with the Oregon Association of Student Councils. I really enjoyed presenting at their Spring Conference.
The trip was especially awesome as I flew in earlier so I could visit with my awesome cousins and their three-year-old daughter, Edie. I spent Sunday morning blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, reading stories, and everything else that makes life simply awesome. The weather in Portland was incredible on Sunday, and my cousin Amy suggested an afternoon picnic. We decided to pick up some groceries at the local Whole Foods on our way to the park. After filling up Edie’s tiny grocery cart with enough picnic snacks for an ant feast, we checked out, and hopped into the elevator to get to the car in the parking garage.
Amy turned to Edie, “do you see what is happening?” which prompted Edie to look out the elevator window.
“The world is going down, and we are going up.” Edie replied.
We all smiled.
I loved that idea: “the world is going down, and we are going up.” I had never thought about an elevator in that way. It make sense when you think about it–at least from the point of view from a three-year-old.
And so Edie had me thinking… (and drawing, and dancing, and coloring, and reading, and blowing bubbles…) At the park, I tried to listen a little bit more to the observations she was making. I tried to see the world a little bit from her eyes. Unfortunately, my adult ears and adult eyes are a little stale in this regard, but the trees did appear a little bit cooler, the doggies a little bit cuter, and the experience a little bit better.
So my challenge for you this Monday? Try to find a moment to change up your perspective. See the world in a slightly different light and see how that experience plays out. Let me know how it goes.
Happy Monday!
Oh, and if you want a few more amazing examples of kid perspectives, listen to one of my all-time favorite, This American Life episodes entitled KID LOGIC. (The MLK story about 13 minutes in is one of my all-time favorite stories).