One of the Most Valuable Lessons from my Children has been Mindfulness.
A story about the reawakening of the senses and being present.
When our little ones were born, we were based in London. It had been a vibrant place to work and further our careers, but the moment the children arrived, our world changed.
I became increasingly aware of how noisy, crowded, and polluted London is. Very soon, we were working towards a plan to move.
What a lot of noise!
Our eldest son would hold his little ears as we descended the three flights of stairs from our apartment into the busy world outside. He would only release them when we were safely back at home. I started to hear all the sounds around me — the cars and the busses, the hooting, the sirens, and the sounds of the traffic lights.
The sounds were overwhelming when I took the time to listen and try to comprehend what my little one was experiencing. It made me realize to what degree we, as adults, have learned to tune out all those sounds. If we heard what was there every day, we would likely go mad! In trying to understand, I was tuning in to just one sense. Add in the sights and smells. It is no wonder that some children can feel that it is all too much.
I think as adults we can become so accustomed to the world around us that we no longer experience it. We tune out the sounds that are too loud, too repetitive, or too insistent. Sometimes, it’s an effective and necessary coping mechanism.
What are you not seeing/ hearing/ noticing?
We also no longer notice the path that we walk every day. It becomes so habitual and mundane that we allow ourselves to be caught up in our thinking. The here and now becomes just a passing mirage of ordinary. Perhaps that too is a useful way of not noticing our surroundings so that we can cope with doing the same route day in and day out. We do not want to feel discomfort.
Ironically, it was only when I started to notice that what I was hearing and seeing and experiencing was not comfortable, that was I able to initiate change. It didn’t take us long to move to the countryside.
Isn’t it wonderful how our little ones teach us so much!
My eldest taught me to sense the world again — to hear what is there and see what is there. My sense of smell and taste during pregnancy became heightened and that “superpower” remained post-pregnancy for better or for worse!
Our second little one is a different character. He is not perturbed by much around him and got on with being a baby and doing his baby things. It made me realize how different we all are right from the very beginning.
When I think back to our second child’s baby days, I remember days of simply being. He was an easy-going baby who did everything fully. When he slept, he slept. When he ate, he ate. When he played, he was fully immersed. He reminds me that doing whatever you are doing fully, is truly the best way to do it!
