My daughter wants to try some thing new. She chatted excitedly about her imaginings of new adventures a couple of weeks ago. She wants a new school.
There is nothing wrong she assures me, she is not fleeing from bullying or sadness, She just wants some thing new, a challenge, more diversity. My daughter wants, she has told me, to know what she doesn’t know. To discover the hidden to see the unseen ..
I’m terrified.
The gulf between known and unknown seems massive .
She is inquisitive and exploratory … fascinating really and it makes me wonder .. where does that go? That spirit to explore to expand past the limits of what we know ? When does it get replaced with fear of change or catastrophising about as yet unknown futures
Where does that magic go ?
I am acutely aware not to give her my fears, not to limit her horizons with my own limitations.
I know of course that I just want to keep her safe, keep her close. The old adage if it’s not broke don’t fix it is whispering in my ear… but the question I keep wondering is 'does something have to be broken in order to seek change, excitement, to experience something new?' Rather than running from a sadness can we not just run towards new experiences, simply because we want to ?
Far from giving my daughter my fears and limitations I am actively hoping to learn from her the magic of exploring the new the unknown…
To take my steps with a gentle wonderment at all which is as yet still to discover rather than clinging with fear to what is safe and familiar.
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