Childhood

This is the third intersection which built the present moment; it arrived delivered in our bedroom in the same time with Sara. Thank you, Sara.

Probably the only place in which we can build liberties, all we need for that is being there, next to our child. Yet, as we are seemingly bound by tradition, I used it to reflect upon myself in order to understand my childhood. Sara is my opportunity to change something for me, for myself and someone important next to me. And this is not criticizing my childhood; I love my parents and my brothers and sister. Yet in the same time, I came to realize that the notions I received about love, were at some point the notions my parents received from their parents.

So what do we need to be better as parents?

We need connection, a real one, a profound one with the child next to us. That connection will bring to the surface the child in us, thus the opportunity for us to further evolve, beyond our childhood.

We need empathy, to change place with our children for every step or barrier they might encounter.

We need to remember how difficult it was to drive this constantly growing body, to synchronize it, to push it ahead.

We need to remember how difficult it was not to know, to ask the same question over and over as our brain was under construction, thus not 100% there, not 10%.

We need to trust ourselves, our children and their innate abilities, the ones they might know or not yet. They will discover them through our love, presence, and care.

A father is a validator, every new ability is reflected back to the father if he is not there to validate that the child might give up that skill and worse might give up exploring altogether.

Children are programmed for evolution and they will evolve. There is, however, a risk of stopping them if they lose our trust in them.

We need to help them develop their emotional intelligence as love is the key to all. It will help them develop their social intelligence and probably most importantly their self-respect.

In a nutshell, we all are extraordinary and that is rooted in our most profound desires to evolve and learn.

As we almost all have those smartphones, we can become better photographers of the childhood next o us through presence. Moreover, we become aware of our presence next to the child looking up to us. Writing with light becomes thus a point in which photography, presence, and childhood intersect.

And remember, gifting love and presence to our children will return to us more love and presence.