I’m sitting here on the beach.. in the Sun, in the sand. Waves crashing, a steady breeze, kids running around laughing. I love watching kids play, their laughs are inspiring and they come up with the wildest ideas. No agenda, no rhyme or reason. Just playing. Just being. Not worried about the time or how long they have left to play, that worrying wastes time. Just play. Pure joy and excitement, pure living.
I was going to make this post about “lessons from the ocean” but actually, I think kids have more to teach us than we realize so let’s talk about that.
Time: Of course kids have the luxury of not being responsible for keeping time, getting places on time or deciphering how long something “should” last. But they’re intuitive about it: Not quiet when they’re hungry. Run into the ocean without a plan or overthinking it, when they’re hot or just want to for the hell of it. When we’re not present or enjoying the moment, where we are now for what it is, then I think that is actually “wasting time.” Why are we always wasting time tracking time?
Humor: Stupid shit is funny and that’s just the cold hard facts. A big ass burp out of nowhere is funny, admit it. The way the seagull is hopping around looking for food -it’s cute, it’s funny! Getting knocked over by a wave.. it is fucking FUNNY! Silly shit, stupid shit, simple shit… Kids aren’t bitter, they don’t care what people think or what they look like. They laugh at these things because their find-something-humorous-to-laugh pipeline is automatic. They don’t have to think about it, don’t have preconceived judgements or attitudes or hate. We gotta laugh at more stupid shit.
Appearances: Kids do not give one single fuck what their hair looks like at the beach. Not ONE. Running around here with sand everywhere, wind blowing, in and out of the water… who cares? They’re not working on their tans. Not wearing coverups to hide anything. Don’t care where their bathing suit is from. It’s kind of funny how kids know exactly how to treat their bodies correctly: use them for what they’re made for. Run, walk, dance, throw balls, dig sand, jump waves, swim. They appreciate being able to do all these things, they aren’t worried what they look like while doing them.
Friends: Kids will make friends with anyone on the beach who wants to play catch with them, accepts their seashell gift, or gets splashed in the face by a wave. They literally go about what they’re interested in, meet other kids interested in the same thing, do that thing together… and soon they’re inseparable! Refusing to leave when the parents say it’s time to go. They don’t care what anyone's background story is, what town they live in, or how much money their family has. They get to know each other by playing and talking about random shit.
Maybe it’s all the experience and education we’ve had that makes us less aware. Kids are experts at being humans. Time doesn’t have to rule us. There's humor in everything. Who cares what you look like? And making a friend starts with a simple “hi.”
I dedicate this silly post to my younger self, don’t stop being a kid. 💚