A small child dressed in multi-coloured anorak and blue trousers grasps his Mum’s hand as he walks along the very edge of the path, the raised brick edge providing a perfect balance bar. He’s happy. He chatters away, noticing birds, leaves, twigs and interesting stones, yet still managing to put one foot in front of the other, carefully balancing his way toward home. He’s probably
left his older sibling at the school gate, a few yards away. Meanwhile, Mum is holding her phone with the other hand, totally engrossed. He stops, captivated by a patch of snowdrops emerging from the path’s bank.
“Pretty flowers!” he says, tugging her hand to show what he sees and share the joy. She does not share his joy. “We don’t have time for that now” she says “let’s do this another day, let’s go home now and …” [fill in the blank: do the laundry, clean the house, do the food shop, prepare meals, return phone calls, get to work, MOT the car, etc.] We are so pressured, so busy, it’s relentless.
I am saddened to witness the scene. Oh for the freedom of childhood – the absence of both responsibilities and a sense of time and urgency – how quickly we lose that openness. Especially to the wonder of the natural world, that patch of snowdrops, the sole feather amidst the leaves underfoot, some new shoots appearing despite the wind and storms of the last few weeks.
I slow my pace. My next appointment is an hour ahead and I have time to luxuriate on my walk. I too can stop and observe the snowdrops, a pink hyacinth on someone’s kitchen window sill, the birthday cards adorning another’s window ledge, hear the birdsong and no matter how hard I look, not see its origin, coming as it does from tiny birds in the very top branches. It’s too easy to say “stop and smell the roses” or “carpe diem” yet there is something profound about pausing to engage with the wider world and its wonders. Even if it’s just for a moment….
Will you stop today or tomorrow and see what you see?
[My private practice has a waiting list at the moment, but you’re always welcome to reach out and enquire if anything has changed].