Happiness Moments: Children Playing

So a little writing experiment for the blog. I’ve been wanting to find a way to do some free writing as practice. And I’ve been wanting to capture the moments in my life that have brought me true happiness. I need that little pick me up right now with everything going on in the world and no real chance to travel. So, some writing about happy moments in my life, hope they bring you a little happiness too.

The easiest way for me to raise a smile, to feel happy is to watch children play.  Particularly toddlers, the way they interact with the world is intoxicating.  They have some so much curiosity about everything, so many things amuse them and their emotions are pure and exaggerated.  And while that makes an unhappy toddler a potential nightmare to deal with, when they are happy and at play the come to joy so quickly and expressively.  Seeing that, remembering that state brings me incredible joy and the absolute most wonderful thing in the world for me is when babies and toddlers laugh uncontrollably.

One of my favorites is of a baby laughing at ripping paper.

The other day I had a wonderful moment seeing just this sort of thing.  While I was jogging at the park I saw young mom with her two kids.  One was three or four, the other about eighteen months old.  The little guy was sitting on the grass looking up at the sky and it became apparent quickly that he really digs birds.  A bird flew overhead and he was so focused on it that he fell over on his back.  He was so happy to have seen the bird he burst out laughing when he fell over.  He then spotted a couple of ravens about fifty yards away in the park and off he went.   Now, he knew he wasn’t supposed to go that far away from mom, I could tell by the way he was moving.  He would spring toward the birds, stop, look over his shoulder, spring a little further and do it again.  He got about half way to the birds before he got busted and mom came running after him.  Now it may seem that, that would be the end of his bird joy, but it wasn’t.  As mom came running up, he made one last dash for the ravens and they flew up into the air.  Apparently causing them to fly was the point because he burst out laughing again as they did.

It made me so happy to see someone get so much joy from something as simple as a bird flying up into the air.  We can learn so much from munchkins.  Have a happy day my friends. ~ Rev Kane