In the last entry, we “celebrated the magical bond between fathers and daughters”.
While there, we beheld a sequence of memories expressed by each of them as an intimate dance spanning two retrospective worldviews.
This current entry continues in a similar retrospective mode.
Here, it ponders the “what-if-then” musings of mature parenthood, as penned by author and poet Diana Loomans, in her book, “100 Ways to Build Self-esteem & Teach Values”:
“If I had my child to raise over again,
I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less, and know to care more.
I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I’d run through more fields, and gaze at more stars.
I’d do more hugging, and less tugging.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I’d teach less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.
It matters not whether my child is big or small,
From this day forth, I’ll cherish it all.”
I wonder, if one views “my child to raise over again” as one’s “inner child” (the true and original Self in each one of us), then perhaps this poetic journey might well be seen as a key to one’s personal “Newest Normal” in living here and now. Maybe food for perusal…
Warmests — PenDell