Get a new view
Image by Adreson Vita Sá
Sometimes you just have to see your life through a different lens. Instead of the same one you always use (measuring success by the standard in your head), look at your life the way an artist might, or the way your mother does, or through the eyes of your pet kitty.
What might an artist see? Movement, color, facial expressions. Look again: see your children outside through the back window. Look again: lie on the couch on your tummy and peek over the arm rest to watch two of your kids play together on the floor. Don’t look: eavesdrop while your children teach each other how to play a game.
More: Take a picture of what you see (unmade beds, shoes scattered under a bench, books strewn across a table, tired faces, handwriting on a page, Cuisinaire rods left arranged on the coffee table, bits of paper cut from an art project never cleaned up, toothpaste on the sink…). Allow the real-ness of your family life to be the subject of an artistic view: see it differently, see it artistically, see a photograph as a record of your family as it is/was today.
Rearrange a few items on the table to make a centerpiece of homeschool work from today. Stand a workbook on its end, hang a drawing from a string above the dinner table, scatter colored pencils around the place settings. Treat today’s work like art, and appreciate it differently.
How might your mother see your day? Precious little kids learning to pour their juice and almost getting it right; cuddling siblings, big smiles, eager to be read to. Older kids who ask a million and one questions: each one deserving of an answer, and if she were in your home, they would get an answer. Maybe she would see you – this incredible child of hers, doing this incredible thing, amazing her at your parenting skills, your nurturing instincts, the way you show your adult competencies, just as you feel about your kids as they become more and more their own persons. See yourself through your mother’s eyes today and appreciate you, as you are, growing up and achieving adulthood, becoming a parent.
How might your pet cat or dog see the family? A big group of noisy, friendly, lovable people. This bunch of humans can do no wrong—you are as you are and are loved because you are. Loyal enthusiasm (dog) or tender brushes against your leg (cat) tell you that you are okay no matter what your mood or day’s mishaps. What else does the family pet see? Laps to sit in, opportunities to take walks or to go outside, a chance to be fed. You can see your family through this lens: cuddle up, get outside, feed each other food and emotional nurturing. Be loyal rather than critical. Assume the best, not the worst. Be there when needed.
For a moment: change the view finder for your family and see each person with appreciation and patience, an openness to discovery and joy of who they are to each other and to you.
Cross-posted on facebook.
Linked up at The Homeschool Post – January Blog and Tell!
