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Living through the eyes of a child, with Kathy Staran.

By on October 7, 2013
eyes of child

By Kathy Staran.

A recent visit a few weeks ago with dear friends from Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with their two year old daughter, who will soon be three, proved very enlightening for me. We began their visit with lunch at a local pizza restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant it was later than the usual lunch hour so the place wasn’t too busy. We were sat at a table in the middle of the restaurant, and the daughter of our friends, although she was feeling rather shy at first, eventually decided she had to sit next to me. This ended up being a good thing, as she and I talked and laughed through the entire lunch, and she ended up sitting on my lap, giggling, and then posing/modelling for photos I took of her on my iPhone as her parents and my husband looked on, laughing and smiling.

They were spending the night at our home, so we came back to the house to relax and visit. The little girl was incredibly bubbly and happy, and before we knew it, she had all of us caught up in her play. We later went out for a burger to a local restaurant, and once again, the little girl wanted to sit near me and was very engaged with me once again. We even at one point decided we liked some music that was playing, so we got up and danced for a few songs!

“We all noticed that the other patrons of the restaurant were all smiles as they watched us enjoying ourselves while dancing and giggling our heads off.”

The evening proved to be even more fun and exciting as it went on, as this little girl kept us all in stitches with her antics and engaging personality.

Simple things such as a game on the iPad were very intriguing to her, as were our two cats, who are just over a year old. She became friends with both of them very quickly, and even though they were a bit stand-offish at first, it was only a matter of time before they became fast friends, playing and jumping around with her.

The next day, her parents and I decided that we would head to the local zoo to take the young girl on an outing. From the moment she knew we were going to the zoo, she began talking excitedly about it, and couldn’t wait to get there! We arrived, and spent the entire afternoon at the zoo, watching the animals and talking about the different types of animals and their habitats.

When they left late that evening, I began thinking about the visit and realize how much FUN I had! It was so wonderful to see the world through the eyes of a child, with the sense of wonderment that comes so naturally to them.

What happens to us in becoming adults that we lose this sense of wonder?

I think we become hardened by the world and its ills, as well as very cynical, due to the huge amount of negativity we are constantly exposed to via various media outlets, including the nightly news.

I find the television news to be incredibly depressing, as it is very seldom that there is ever a positive story reported during the newscasts. Do the producers of these programs really think that we have NO interest in positive happenings or events?

I feel that as human beings, we need to see the goodness in others, and hear about their generous acts as well.

Our children also need to see positive role models, instead of all the junk they are constantly being fed by the media.

In any case, this served as a catalyst for personal change for me. I made the decision to enjoy my life to the fullest, to attempt to capture that childlike wonderment that I had seen with my friends’ daughter, to attempt to focus on more positive things, and to ignore negativity and depressing things, including newscasts! I now change the channel when something awful is being reported that I am uncomfortable watching, as it is making me sad. I try to laugh with each person I come into contact with each day, or get a smile out of them at the minimum. I attempt to stay more connected with my husband, my mom and my dear friends, as I know that life is short, and I would rather be remembered for bringing joy and happiness to others.

Since I began this process, I am amazed at the responses I receive from others. They are smiling more, are much happier and much less negative as well. If each of us attempted to look at life and our experiences of it through the eyes of a child, for just one day, we would be totally amazed at how GOOD it makes us feel!

Give it a try…I dare ya!

 

Kathy-GlassesKathy Staran has been writing for over 25 years on a freelance basis, has written articles for various online magazines, and also has published two fiction novels with her husband, Mike. She is also an Interior Designer, specializing in remodeling projects and real estate staging, and is an accomplished ceramic artist as well, specializing in functional pottery pieces and sculpture. She currently splits her time between Troy, Michigan and Marina del Rey, California, and shares her life with her husband and their two cats, Grayson and Tucker.

(photo of child by Michael Hurcomb. www.michaelhurcomb.com)

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