A cool walk in the park at 5:45 in the morning is a great way to start a day. Waiting for the crescendo at dawn, it tunes up my spirit and rev up metabolism. Odin, my dog wakes me up at 5:00 am and he never fails.
On our way back home, we would come across children on their way to school, or infants and babies carried by their nannies. Getting the warmth of sun their faces shine.
“I wonder what Dreams live in the radiant smiles and laughter.”
In time these once babies who greets me “good morning!” are now in grade school. There is a particular toddler who comes to my house. She knocks at my door and loves to eat breakfast with me. It has become her routine spend time with me every time the mother goes to work. Until one day, she called me “Mum”. I felt so sorry for her mother.
I have always been fond of children. It is a simple and delightful environment with them. From the delivery room to nursery, newborn care is fuzzy and charming, changing diapers and feeding them. It is fun to listen to the stories orphaned and abandoned children narrate.
Every child born is wrapped with heavenly light. Babies bring joy to any home. They radiate peace and contentment. They carry a piece of heavenly peace in their cheerful disposition. Children are open towards the beautiful. Their faces reflect the brightness of sunshine. The thoughts of Children carry less clutter or none at all.
Working with children is a great joy! Their concerns are simple and less complicated. With no pretense, they are true.
Adults have difficulty in perceiving what is authentic because their soul life is marred by their own prejudice or we have allowed ourselves to box in people. The capacity in finding the truth comes naturally among children whose sense and soul life is still pure. The purity of their perception of the beautiful is much higher than that of adults. They are able to see goodness in everything because their hearts are still detached from the matters of the world. They look at the world as the projection of their own inner life. The goodness resonates outward. It is this inner goodness that we protect in children.
When a child is exposed to harsh environment, violent experiences or absentee and poor parenting this “purple seed of love and wisdom” may be stunted. The family relationships that shows quality of peaceful living and harmonious environment ideally forms in the child’s soul – loving, strong and affirmative foundation of life.
The fair and loving treatment of the adult be it the parent or other significant adult who is the child’s caregiver; establish the healthy dynamics of interaction with his immediate community and nature around him. Raising children we must strive to create peaceful living and harmonious growing environment. It takes conscious and willful effort on the part of the adult to create and maintain a loving environment to raise a child. It takes the whole community to usher a peaceful, stable and bright future for children. However, the thought that with proper guidance and love there are children who grow strong in virtues even in the most difficult situations in life. After all, whether a child is ours or not adults share in the collective consciousness in raising a child who is part of humanity, nature and of the universe. Maybe not as grand as creating organizations dedicated for children’s welfare. But in the simple things that parents or any adult does for all children ensuring a loving, empathic and compassionate environment.
Sadly, some children are born without seeing their own childhood due to varied reasons. Such as the excessive concern over academic success that a child misses the chance to play and be with other children. Spending hours of after school remedial lessons in an effort to catch up with the class. “Keeping up with the jones!” When a child is exposed to live in unnecessary commercialism placing them in the adult world that they are not ready to handle yet. A child is initiated early on with adult images, thoughts and themes with the belief that exposing a young child to the realities of life better prepares them for the future.
When parents are more concerned of living off their own dreams and frustrations in the lives of their children. What better world can this be? When a child dies before he sees his own dream realized. What a cold world it is, when we can only see the measure of our own good. Yet the universal balance in life is to appreciate both emptiness and having.
What Dreams may come from a bed of a crippled or pained view of the world and life. Is to remember that Life draws the brightest star from the darkest part. That the sweetest smile comes from the heart who is deeply hurt but not broken.
To nurture a dream is to set the Life free to recreate itself. To allow the other person the chance to shine his own light.
Love is an essential foundation. Nurture the loving nature in every Child. Nourishing altruistic and cordial love toward humanity, nature and the universe. Treating nature and regarding the universe with reverence not as objects to own but one that sustains Life.
A life that recognizes Love as unconditional and Goodness is a basic nature of humanity.
To nurture a dream begins with keeping love alive in children! A Child who grows surrounded with Love hardly falls into bitterness or to degradation of a harsh and cold world. A soul who grows as Love is a vessel of dreams.
“I marvel at children who sell Sampaguita along main roads. I stop to listen to their dreams.
I like to share a moment of joy, share my sandwich not because they are poor but I myself am poor in some ways.”
MARIA LOURDES A. DE VERA is an artist-author, a registered nurse and a licensed professional teacher. Known to her students and other children under her tutelage as Teacher Marielou, she is friendly, unconventional and fun.
She is the author of “Art and the Creation Stories”, published by Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc., a very useful book not only for educators but also for anyone who is willing to revive one’s noble calling in a life of creativity, the language of the soul together with one’s articulation of faith towards one’s salvation.
