“True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness.” -Albert Einstein
I spent yesterday at Disneyland. One word of advice… avoid Disneyland during Spring Break. It felt as if you needed to wait in line to walk around, let alone to ride Space Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean. There’s something wrong about enduring 65 minutes in line for a 1-minute roller coaster thrill.
Meanwhile, my little 2-year-old cousin had a different gameplan to navigate the chaos. He found a fountain spouting water from a hose in the kids’ play area. He worked up a routine: drink from the fountain, cover the fountain, lick his Mickey Mouse lollipop. And again: drink from the fountain, cover the fountain, lick his Mickey Mouse lollipop. And again... on and on and on for over an hour he sat there totally engaged as if he were riding a roller coaster.
I watched with envy while longing for the days of being a 2 year old with little or no responsibility and an uncanny ability to live fully in the moment. I just sat there remembering what it was like to be a little kid and have your parents take care of everything. Suffice it to say, when you were 2 years old, you didn’t even need to find a bathroom. When it was time to go, you just went right there in your pants.
If only for a moment everyday, we could again become a 2 year old. Not for the convenience of spontaneously releasing your bladder, but rather for the simple pleasures. As the Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”
Here are some thoughts on how to restore the simplicity of childhood to your life:
1. Open Up to New Ideas, Energies, Foods, Songs
Pearl Buck said, “You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.” It’s easy to get caught in routines: listening to the same songs on your ipod, going to the same few restaurants, not making time to experience the exhibit at the local museum. Exposure to a fresh flow of life inspires the soul, ignites the imagination, and enriches the palette. When you come to life with renewed curiosity, you return to the beginner’s mind enjoyed daily by a 2 year old… where everything is all brand new. Thoreau said, “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”
2. Create a 2-Year-Old Moment
If you watch a 2-year-old, they move from one activity to another with reckless abandon. But while in the midst of doing something, they are fully doing it. They’re not playing with a toy while checking their BlackBerry. A 2-year-old moment is allowing yourself to do one thing, and do it completely and wholeheartedly. Make it something simple like lie on the grass and look up at tall tree, or fool around on an Etch-a-Sketch. As described in my Disneyland scenario, the adults felt trapped by the crowds and lines, but the 2-year-old escaped into the infinite space of a simple pleasure.
3. Restore Your Sense of Stillness and Silence
To find stillness and silence in the mind and body is to wipe the slate clean, empty the cup, and clear the playing field. From a place of stillness and silence, it’s so much easier to come to new experiences with fresh perspective. It might mean a few deep breaths in the morning or kicking back on the couch for a midday 10-minute catnap. Silence is often the most accessible of the simple pleasures. “Words are a heavy thing... they weigh you down. If birds talked, they couldn't fly.”
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