23 Looking for Miracles

On 03/17/202303/17/2023 By Susan St.PierreIn In my humble opinion...3 Comments

Rory asked these questions a day ago. It seemed a fun place to start the day.

Do you think being outside is good for a person’s wellbeing?

It is absolutely essential. When I’m outside, all my problems seem smaller. The immense beauty and expansive wonder of Nature (something I cannot fully explain) speaks to me. There are forces so much bigger than I. My favorite personal explanation is “It’s a place where I feel comfortably insignificant.”
Once when my granddaughter, at about 8 years old, was having a ‘meltdown’, my cure for it was asking her to go and sit outdoors. It worked. It always works.
I don’t consider it a distraction, but rather a reconnection.

How much of a sensation seeker are you?

This is a good one. I am a bit of a daredevil. But the path I take is usually testing my own limits. As an “eyes wide open” person when it comes to assessing physical danger, I don’t as often take safety risks as I test the “rules”. I think most rules are arbitrary nonsense. Remember the 6-foot distancing during the pandemic? Yeah…that one was actually an IQ test and most people were sadly scoring in the double digits. lol 😉

Do you believe in blind luck?

No. Since I decided to center my life around gratitude it has been even more beautiful. And to feel gratitude, one needs someone or something to thank. I am thankful to God for his grace and love. By finding that life direction which increases my perception of beauty and calm, I haven’t regretted the decision… and I truly don’t care what others think of it. Faith is absolutely a daily decision and no different from deciding what you’ll wear.
Since I’ve looked for miracles (I even did as a child), I’ve recognized SO much. It’s quite like the saying, “You can’t win the lottery if you don’t play.”

https://earthlycomforts.uk/2023/03/16/a-wild-aloha-to-you-27/

Unanswered Question: Do city people know what they’re missing?

On 01/17/202301/17/2023 By Susan St.PierreIn In my humble opinion..., Unanswered Questions13 Comments

I’d gotten a lot more rest than usual lately over the long weekend. We each have a personal quota so when my dog got me up at 2:00 am, I had a few hours of wide ‘awakeness’.
My thoughts started where they usually do with a stream of experiences I’ve had inspiring awe with the wonders of Mother Nature. Then I considered all the ‘urbanized’ people who might not have witnessed nature as I have had the privilege to do.
Oh, the places I went from there!

Much of the discontent, crime, and hopelessness, seems concentrated in urban areas these days. Why? People are people and I thought we needed the same things. Maybe we most urgently do.
My stream of consciousness eventually brought me to a profound (not necessarily correct) conclusion.

The over domestication of human beings is dangerous to their happiness and well-being.

The same thing has happened to animals. Wild animals can fend for themselves, and understand the natural world, but dogs, cattle, and parakeets, are at a terrible survival disadvantage since they’ve been kept for so long.

I’ve known some ‘city’ people who have visited places that were natural for the first time and been overwhelmed by all the things they didn’t know and didn’t even know they didn’t know.

There’s a rhythm in the natural world that human beings can, and IMHO should, know about.
One in particular is the awareness of a ‘line’, more like a pause, between night and day. Having tented and camped in forests throughout my life, I’ve witnessed it.
There’s a time about an hour before dawn when the summer night sounds pause for about 2 to 5 minutes. Crickets grow quiet, and owls stop hooting, leaving a dramatic silent pause before the morning birds joyously sing greetings to the new day. Witnessing THAT can change a person. The recognition of amazing forces at work that we humans cannot take credit for is humbling!

That pause was my personal choice for the most magical natural event (seconded by meteor showers) but there are countless others. I have no doubt human beings are meant to be part of those natural rhythms too. But how would city people even know about them? Their surroundings are removed and artificial in comparison to those who have access to the natural world.
I wonder if those seemingly lost people are starving for something they don’t even know exists. Could they be feeling incomplete? Might the lack of any natural connection be adding to the growing complaints about life having ‘no meaning’?

Well, at 3:30 this morning, my answer to those questions was “yes”.

My overall question is “Do those city people know what they’re missing?”

Eugi’s Weekly Prompt- Enchanted

On 11/12/202111/12/2021 By Susan St.PierreIn Words 'n' such Poetry11 Comments

If you lose your innocent wonder, or…
Lack songs that electrify your stomach and move your body,
Your heart doesn’t dance when your children and grandchildren arrive,
Or, ‘What ifs?’ never flood your mind.

If you lose your curiosity, or…
Have never felt close to The Creator, and witnessed him in Nature’s perfection,
Your tears rarely flow for joy, and beauty, and discovery,
Or, you can’t imagine that possibilities are endless.

Then enchanted things will not ‘believe in’ you, either.

https://amanpan.com/?p=82944

To Infinity and beyond… Child Care Fun

On 11/01/201311/01/2013 By Susan St.PierreIn Keeping Kids Creative, Susan's Family Day Care7 Comments

I couldn’t imagine a happier profession than mine.

As a child day care provider, I get to play with kids everyday. Ideas are my passion and kids have the BEST ideas!

Yesterday, two of my 4-year-old friends and I had a lovely discussion.
My first question was, “How might I get to the moon?”

Jasen: “You would need super shoes to jump up there.”

Me: “Where might I get those super shoes?”

Jasen: “At Super Walmart, of course.”

We discussed the moon further and decided that we would need a gravity suit and air tanks and a Super Parachute (available, also, at Super Walmart).

Me: “There’s too much to jump with. How might we get our supplies up there?”

Jasen: “We’ll need a truck!”

Me: “There’s no road to the moon. How about a rocket ship?”

Jasen:”Where do we buy a rocket ship?”

Me: “Scientists have them at NASA.”

With that problem solved, I moved on.

Me:”How do farmers plant seeds in their fields?”

Ava and Jasen: “They dig a hole with a shovel and drop in the seeds.”

Me: “That would take too long for a farmer to plant 500 seeds. How do farmers plant so many seeds in good time?”

Ava: “They ask 500 friends to come over and dig a hole.”

Me: :”That’s a great way to save time! Good idea. But, the farmer would need 500 shovels, wouldn’t he? I don’t think he can get that many at Super Walmart. It would cost a lot and the inventory(I explained what inventory meant.) isn’t that large!”

So, I introduced and talked about tractors and planters and plows.

Me:” Now, how will the farmer water her seeds?” … Notice the gender change 😉

Jasen:” She can get a hose.”

“Me: “I don’t think that there are hoses long enough for big fields.”

Ava: “I know! It will rain sometimes.”

Me:” Super Ava! That is what the farmers hope for. On a rainy day, remember that the farmers are happy.”

Jasen: “What if there are puddles?”

Me: “You are right, Jasen! Sometimes, there is too much rain and the farmers hope for the sun to come out to dry up those fields. Last Spring, my uncle and cousin, couldn’t drive their tractors on the muddy ground. They were very worried. Boy, farmers really need to count on the weather, don’t they?”

Our conversation progressed through the steps that produce takes to reach their dinner table. During the discussion, we realized the need for refrigerator trucks too.
We had one great afternoon!

What fun it is to be an early childhood educator! I get to witness that wide-eyed wonder every single day along with many opportunities for chuckles. 😉

Today? Well, we’ll see what comes up. It’s going to be fun!

Once Pondered

On 08/08/2012 By Susan St.PierreIn Words 'n' such Poetry3 Comments

It was summertime.

Season of sounds

Without limits

Daylight, endless hours

Searching and seeing

Breathing and being

curious.

A pond is one universe.

Sodden with life

For children

Frogs tell it best

Not needy

Hiding an option

Temporary adoption

Be gentle.

Understanding our existence.

So very easy

In summer

Solitary inspection

Waters and reflection

living.

Ageless Wonder

On 04/29/201006/08/2012 By Susan St.PierreIn Sideshows, Susan's Family Day CareLeave a comment

OK! I play with kids for a living.
I have much time to think.
Have you ever pondered how time seemed endless to us as kids?

I think of time, in childhood, as the top of a whirlpool.It takes a long time to get around!As we age,we travel further down the funnel and time moves more quickly!(of course time is constant,but our experience seems to quicken!)
What was it?

It cannot be because we are more distracted as adults. Who is more distracted than a child?
I believe it has much to do with “living in the moment”.
I enjoy the company of kids for this reason! They remind me daily to focus on the ordinary.
They do this with such unspoiled wonder!
Why do you think the experience of TIME changes as we age?