What young children can teach us about living in the moment.

Children have a natural ability to enjoy the moment. They squeal with joy when they feel the softness of a kitten’s fur, they marvel at the bugs they find under a rock and they sigh with pleasure at the smell of baking. The wind in their hair makes them feel alive and the warmth of the sun on their face comforts them.

Our usual busy lives can take this simple enjoyment away from all of us. But living in lockdown can be an opportunity to reclaim this natural talent – for children and for ourselves. Despite the need in many household to juggle multiple roles – working, child care and teaching among many others – life is often being lived at a slower pace in lockdown.  We travel less, there are no after school activities to rush to and no opportunity to fill our lives with going out to dinner, to a movie or a show. Essentially, there is less external stimulation. 

The lack of all this stimulation can feel tedious and boring. We can feel at a loss when life becomes mundane. But here’s where children’s natural ability to find joy in their surroundings can teach us all how to find peace in the daily life of a lockdown.

The answer is simple. Notice. Notice the warmth of the sunshine, notice the sound of rain on the roof (often in the same day if you live in Auckland), listen to all the birds that have suddenly appeared since human beings stopped rushing around so much. If you do, you are likely to notice something else, a peace, maybe momentary but peace nonetheless. This is what noticing can give us and what we can learn from young children – to appreciate and marvel at the world around us.

Lockdown is an opportunity to reconnect with these simple pleasures and with our natural ability to appreciate these. Let’s make the most of it.