Monday, July 1, 2013

Bees and Children

Claire and I watch as a bumblebee darts and hovers over feathery stalks of lavender. Legs plump with pockets of pollen, the bee's rotund orbed body seems impossibly, precariously airborne. "How are those delicate wings keeping it aloft?" I wonder.

The bee doesn't ask this question. She just flies.

My daughter doesn't ask this question either. In a sense, she flies too.

She and the bee fly, because that's what bees and children do. They act purely from their bee and child nature.

children's_imagination

We adults, we know better. Self-awareness brings the ability to fathom the cavernous depths of the impossible, to buckle under the weight of self-doubt, to allow the fear of failure to keep us earthbound, to stop us from taking a leap into the unknown.

Bees and children remind us that our spirit can be otherwise. They remind us to remember taking flight, to remember that we were once children too...



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Photo Source: Eduardo Merille, Flickr. This photo has been adapted and does not suggest that the licenser endorses me, it's use or this blog. License

41 comments:

  1. Said so beautifully and perfectly. I had to take Lily to the doctor today, because she was running a fever. While there, she found a Disney Jr magazine and I really just stopped and took in all that she had to offer while flipping through these pages and telling me all about all the characters. It was quite humbling to see it through her eyes and you are so right about this and sometimes I admit I am so busy with working and daily chores that I don't always see the full picture, but today I did and was so eye opening for sure.

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    1. We need to see the world through their eyes -- for us and for them. I don't know why it's so hard sometimes!

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  2. This is such a beautiful post! :)

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  3. and we must remember we can fly, we are the ones preventing ourselves. Mom you are flying in a different direction hovering over your child, beautiful!

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    1. I don't know why it's so hard to remember sometimes!

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  4. You knock me down sometimes with your depth and poetry! Wow. Beautiful.

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    1. You made my day, Stephanie! Thank you for your kind words!

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  5. Wonderfully true! Love your writing, you're still knocking my socks off, I mean flip flops!

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    1. Thank you, Lisa! I'm so glad to knock your flip flops off!

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  6. Do you remember The Neverending Story? How if the children stopped believing in a magical place of imagination it stopped existing. Sometimes I imagine it's true, I imagine that they are the reason bees, birds and airplanes fly. Your posts are always so magical my friend. Thank you.

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    1. I feel like having my daughter helped me remember that magical places exist. I really feel like she is a miracle. I know that sounds kinda hokey but I really believe it.

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  7. I love this, Rachel! It's so true, but we don't think about children being this way too often. We tend to think of them as little adults...and they're not. A good reminder :)

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    1. I'm not sure why it's so hard to remember, Kera! It's good when we do though.

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  8. Another seedling of thought turned into an oak tree of wisdom! Thank you for sharing!

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  9. So beautiful. The last couple of days I've been sadly noticing the first signs of Four Year Old transforming from a bee to a person, there's vulnerability in him all of a sudden, signs that he is not invincible, that he thinks and acts based on what others will say. I feel a post coming, but I'm afraid I won't be able to do it as succinctly as you.

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    1. I have no doubt your post will be a good one -- like always!

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  10. Yes .. we were once children too and having one running around can sometimes remind me of that. I just need to embrace those moments a little more!

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•*´
    (¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
    Raising-Reagan.com

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    1. The stress of life can make it hard to remember.

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  11. Oh Rachel! I love this! Yes, yes, we were once children and it's so very important to remember that life often defies odds. Love this super-sweet post!
    Mwah!

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    1. I feel like my daughter defied odds being born.

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  12. Just beautiful. I love how Jon Kabat-Zinn calls children live-in zen masters ~ they live completely in the moment, and teach us to do the same.

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  13. Hi! I wanted to stop by and invite you to link up for The Great Blog Train July addition!

    To link up for July go here: http://blueeyedbeautyblogg.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-great-blog-train-7.html

    Helen
    Blue Eyed Beauty Blog

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  14. What a poetic post! And the most fabulous image!

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    1. Than you, Galina. Yes, I got that image off flickr. The artist, Nosha, had other beautiful shots as well. Check out the photo credit above, if you are interested.

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  15. I LOVE it Rachel! What a beautiful thought!

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  16. Great picture and a beautiful post x

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  17. Beautiful post as always Rachel!!! You always write beautifully!!

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  18. I love that you embrace and encourage the delicate and perfectly free spirit of a child with your writing here. Very nicely done! :)

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  19. I love it, never a truer word spoken by you Rachel. Thank you so much for linking to PoCoLo and sorry for my delay in commenting xx

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  20. Just wanted to come back here to remind you how much I adore you. No need to ping back, visit anything or whatever. Just saying hi. And that you are amazing.

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  21. Geriatric pregnancy - LOL - me too. Very nice blog! Found you through Monday Mingle and following you! Laura, http://camillaandroman.blogspot.com/

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  22. This is lovely, Rachel. I just bought a coffee mug while on vacation that says, "set my spirit free"....just like this---we ARE earthbound because of fears and insecurities. We need to be more like the bees.....

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  23. Loved this, my friend.... There is something about the idea of childhood innocence that gets me choked up every time.

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