Simplicity

Eowyn has many things to teach me. I believe that I am going to spend the rest of my life learning from her. It is a mistake to think parents teach children, when really the relationship is much more reciprocal than that. In fact, if we learned more from our children perhaps we would be better people as adults.
The most important lesson I am learning from my beautiful daughter at this moment is simplicity. Simple, wonderful, simplicity. As we grow we have a tendency to complicate our lives so much. We collect things, we work hard to have money to collect things, we scurry around from task to task, and we often ignore the important things in life both physically and emotionally. Eowyn asks for nothing but the most basic of needs. Feed me and love me. Certainly she needs some other things to survive like clothing. But what I have realized is she doesn't care if she has one outfit or twenty. She doesn't care what color or style the clothing is as long as keeps her warm when she is cold or cool when she is hot. And her amusements are simple. Think about it. Her favorite thing to do is look into her parents faces and smile. What would the world be like if we were all so happy just looking at each other and smiling? If our faces are not available she is almost as happy to stare at a plant or a dog or the sun shining on the floor. She doesn't need computers, television, toys of all sorts at all, although society might like to make us think that. She just needs the world around her to inspire awe, laughter, and tears.
I think adults complicate our lives emotionally as well. We often lie to ourselves and others, we bottle up emotions and problems, we put unreasonable expectations on each other, and carry around all sorts of other emotional baggage. Eowyn does none of this. If she is unhappy or has a problem, she lets us know. If she is happy she lets us know. She doesn't hold grudges if we have trouble figuring out what she needs. She loves fiercely and with all her little being. My goal in life is to live more like that. I want to need less toys and enjoy the world that surrounds me more. I want to deal honestly and openly with the human beings that I share this world with and let them know if I am happy or sad or any of the other million emotions. I think if I can follow the example of my child I can live a happy, more honest, more simple life.