The Blue Dasher and Child-Mind

A child’s mind is curious, imaginative, eager. A child’s mind is designed to play. Even though we may not feel it most of the time, we still have our child-mind. It is always with us. It is of the heart and sensitive. And so it will hide if it’s afraid or fatigued or overburdened. But it is also tough and resilient. It will never go away. It wants to come out and play. How do you find your child-mind if you feel like you’ve lost it? You idle. The favorite companion of child-mind is idleness. In the absence of busy-ness and worry, child mind emerges. It can’t help it. It can’t be still.



I went to a pond and met a blue dasher and he showed me.










I followed the whispery song of an American Redstart flitting around and upside down. He showed me.

Two skinks suddenly ran out of the grass. The little one disappeared in a flash. But the big one in pursuit stopped, raised her nose high in the air and she told me.

And the child-mind giggled.

*American Redstart is a woodland warbler. I've been listening to his song outside my window all week. And when I finally found him. Guess what? He wouldn't be still! Cornell says he flitters about and flashes his tail and wings to attract insects. I think he's just full of 'child-mind'.

*The Blue Dasher is a dragonfly in the skimmer family that inhabits ponds and still wetlands. The female of the species is red! More about the blue dasher next post.