24 May Fully Immersed
The beach.
Last week I wrote about my experience on a beach walk. That blog post was all about the ups and downs of learning. In this blog post, I want to talk about how children become fully immersed in what they’re doing.
I was walking along the beach with Sebastian quite close to me stopping to play, splash and discover things as we went about our way. Everytime he stopped to do something, I noticed how fully immersed he was in the task. Not only was he fully immersed but he was playing and enjoying himself.
At some point along the way he looked up and asked me “where are we”. Now I had to giggle at his question as I wasn’t sure at first if he forgot where we were geographically or if he wasn’t sure where along the walk we were. However, his question was so insightful. He was so fully immersed in his play that he completely forgot where he was. He was able to fully indulge in the present, the here and now, paying full attention to what he was doing in the mind and evidently, getting lost in the moment.
I, on the other hand, started the walk thinking – ok, how long will this walk be? Where will we turn around? At what point exactly will we turn around? Is this space safe? Are all these dogs on a leash, etc.
Sebastian on the other hand, blocked out all those questions and allowed himself to BE.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to say that thinking ahead and scenario planning isn’t important. On the contrary, I think it’s essential. But it’s equally important to also have that mindfulness bedded down where we allow ourselves to be fully immersed in the here and now. Doing this is not unproductive or a sign of tardiness or laziness. Doing this is essential for our thinking, happiness and ultimately, our productivity.
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