Not a day goes by without my saying ‘Thank you!’ to God for the decision on homeschooling that we took. At that moment it was like jumping off a cliff blindfolded, albeit with complete faith in oneself, one’s child and in the Supreme Power. And today it seems as natural as breathing. I can say that I am only now truly LIVING!
“Education is not just to pass examinations, take a degree and a job, get married and settle down, but also to be able to listen to the birds, to see the sky, to see the extraordinary beauty of a tree, and the shape of the hills, and to feel with them, to be really, directly in touch with them.”, said Jiddu Krishnamurti.
It is amazing how we have evolved as a family over these years. Looking back at how we reacted to and handled life situations then and how we do it now, makes me laugh and cry at the same time. It has been overwhelming for us most times as we take time now to stop and listen, look at and carefully watch everything that life has to offer us every day. And that has been because of Raghav being with us 24×7. We have grown and evolved and discovered new, vibrant parts of ourselves along with and through him. And I am thankful for that every day – for only when we think we know everything, do we stop learning and growing.
There is a little anecdote that I would like to share here that made my day! It is for little things like these that we as parents live for. Isn’t it?
We have a little garden at home and I am the one who mostly takes care of it, except for little observations of them by Raghav – like a new leaf that has sprouted, dried up one, and fallen ones, and so on…
One day, as I was watering the plants, Raghav peeped from behind and asked me, “Amma, how do you think the plants say ‘Thank you!’ to you for watering them?”
While I was still thinking about how to answer that, he already had his answer, “I think they say ‘Thank you!’ when they grow new leaves or flowers!” How beautiful our earth would be if we could all be more mindful of our actions and the reactions to them!
I don’t think I had been so mindful about watering plants before! But ever since then, I have been and have found a few ubiquitous moments of peace and joy.