Daring...at least a little bit

I will admit. I really don't watch my children in hopes of finding life lessons. Often I am actually so preoccupied with my own "stuff" that if my child is happily playing, I busy myself with chores or time-wasting activities. Not something I am always proud of, but it is the reality of my parenting at times. But every once in awhile, I am tickled pink by something I see my daughter doing and I pause for a moment in my busy, hurried life, and I soak in the moment. And the moment often teaches me something. Funny how that happens; when you stop and pay attention to life you notice things.

Lately my little 1.5 year old has been enjoying the classic toy, Mr. Potato Head. She sits happily with the myriad pieces I have collected over my years of teaching and randomly puts pieces on the "heads" and takes them off again. Often she puts in whatever piece she picks up out of the tub. It doesn't matter to her that there are three ears, two noses and several mouths on her Potato Head. She is relishing the skill of being able to insert small posts into small holes. At one point she joyfully called out to me the body parts she had added.
"Mouth!"
"Yes, it has a red mouth."
"Nose!"
"Yes, I see the nose."
"Eyes!"
"Oh, did you put eyes on it?"
"More eyes!" as she turned it around and showed me the eyes on the top of the head.
"Yes, you did put more eyes on it."

Another time she called out the ears and two mouths and tongue and then told me,
"No eyes."

She can sit for hours (okay, minutes, but that is a long time for a little one) and change the face over and over. She doesn't need my reassurance that she is doing it right, but she does welcome my interaction.

For some reason this struck me in a powerful way. Perhaps it is because I am currently reading Brené Brown's Daring Greatly. The book deals with shame and vulnerability and our willingness to put ourselves out there, so I saw my daughter's experiments with this toy in a new light.

My daughter has no preconceived notion of what she is supposed to create. She doesn't feel the need to make the funniest looking face, or the most realistic, or the most creative. She doesn't get frustrated when she can't seem to get the hand to go in, she just says "uh, oh," puts it down and picks up another piece. There are no constraints or limitations (self-imposed or otherwise) on what she will create. She is vulnerable in her creativity and finds joy in it. 

My hope is that as I begin this journey of having two children and continue my transition to being a stay-at-home mom that I will find my creativity. That I won't let others dictate how I express myself. That I will open myself up to vulnerability in my relationships and my expression. That I will step out of my comfort zone. Because joy in who we are is worth the risk.