Out of the mouth of babes...the joy of discovery.

My seven year old daughter said to me a few weeks ago that she'd written a new song. So I asked to hear it, and she started to sing the most wonderful song, accompanying herself on the piano. Some of the lyrics went like this:

"The world's in your hands, this is the hour
No time to run, no time to hide, it's the hour
No time to shout, no time to cry, it's the hour
The world's in your hands, this is the hour...."

I briefly wondered if perhaps she'd had some kind of angelic vision warning of an imminent apocalypse, or some other dramatic inspiration, but when I asked her what the song was about, she simply said that it was about not wasting time on things that are not important.
Every morning she wakes up between 5 and 6am, bright and sparky, and gets on with her mini projects for which she's completely self motivated, before she gets ready for school.
She's writing a story at the moment about a purple dolphin, and sometimes she spends the time working on the illustrations for this, or she practises guitar or piano, or works on her songs. Sometimes she reads a book on a subject that interests her, the current preoccupation is with volcanoes, earthquakes and the solar system, or sometimes she spends time 'making' as she calls it. I'm constantly finding various mini installations round the flat and have to try very hard not to tidy them away.
I'm going on a bit I'm sure, because like every parent, I've got a bit carried away talking about my beautiful child... But the point I'm trying to make is, my daughter knows the things that are important to her, they are the things which are in her heart to do, and she realises the importance of devoting time to the things that she loves doing, the things that feed her, the things she is curious about. It's about discovery. She got very excited when she discovered a new chord on the piano, (Ok I knew it was an E major chord) but to her, it was completely new and she thought it was magic.

This challenges me. I sometimes wish I had the eyes of a seven year old. The eyes of wonder, not cynicism, the commitment to the things that I love doing, simply for the love of it, without worrying about outcomes or people's opinions, or whether I might earn a quid or two.

I walked past a man on Tuesday, lying on the pavement doing something really intriguing with a blowtorch, paint brushes and some paint. I really really wanted to ask him what he was doing, it was so detailed, it didn't look like very much at all, but I was too shy to, (I was also worried he might be a nutcase!) On my way back, he'd gone but on the pavement was a small blob of chewing gum with really intricate artwork on it!! Someone told me that this man goes around making miniature works of art on dried up chewing gum on the pavements.
Wow! how on earth did he make this discovery? He is willing to lie on dirty central London pavements for the sake of his art. It's certainly not for recognition I don't think, (though he is actually very well known, I googled 'chewing gum artist' and his name is Ben Wilson), but most of his work is probably trampled underfoot. This man does it because he wants to, perhaps he needs to. I have since found a couple more of his wonderful creations on the same pavement. Here are some photos of his work, (helpfully photographed by hubby on his camera phone on Tottenham St),

Chewing gum art by Ben Wilson.

Chewing gum art by Ben Wilson.

Chewing gum art by Ben Wilson.

 I guess my point is that it's in the staying faithful to the every day things that new discoveries are made. Moments of magic may be found in the sitting at the keyboard feeling uninspired but committed, or simply putting pen to paper even when there's nothing much to say or the mixing of paint even when the canvas looks too blank and unfriendly. It's about spending time on the things that matter, whatever that is.
So here's to more magic moments...