Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Teach Me to Smile Really Big

Nala wrapped her fingers around a long grass frond bouncing in the wind and pulled with all her toddler might.  The long wintered yellow grass broke from the stem with a crunchy noise.  She giggled, joy bursting from the points of her cheeks like shimmering sun beams.

She pointed the frond fluff down at the ground, "I'm going to tickle my rocks."
and she waved the grass around the heavy white landscape rocks, one of which she'd colored with blue marker the day before.

"Tickle tickle!"
More giggles.

The wind blew her hair back from her face and she flashed me an eruptive smile.  I stood in the front doorway wondering where all this joy comes from and how on earth it's possible for someone to be so genuinely happy.  So unashamed and flirty.

It seems like as we get older we begin to selectively tame our emotions around others and not let those smiles get too big.
Timid we may scare someone away with our wild emotions.  
Paranoid we may make someone fall in love with us.  
Apprehensive we may make someone jealous of our happiness.   
Prudent to let loose too much.  
Afraid that if you let something too good happen, something bad will follow.

The kids don't know all those things yet, so they just smile.

And tickle big rocks.

And those rocks laugh back and she hears them.

I hope someday I'm pure enough to hear them too.






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