J. Parrish Lewis

I think most of us, when we were kids, we wanted to fill every moment with something fun to do or see. I know I was that way, at least, though I don’t recall being easily bored. I was fairly good, unless I am deluding myself, at keeping myself entertained for hours on end. It helps to have a good imagination.

Now I’m older, and I notice my daughter doesn’t yet have this skill. She can’t stand to have to entertain herself most of the time, though once she’s REQUIRED to go and entertain herself, she does a fair job at keeping her imagination busy enough to enjoy her time. Yet she treats the idea of a quiet, simple moment as something utterly boring. I probably agreed with that when I was her age, but now I treasure such moments. I can easily enjoy my time just sitting in a comfortable chair staring at the world, so long as I feel  have a right to do so. So long as there’s nothing pressing that I need to take care of and I don’t have to fulfill some kind of social obligation, like struggling to understand a conversation when I can’t hear a thing. In times like that, everyone needs a blank speech bubble like an unfinished cartoon hovering over their head, because that’s what it feels like.

Yet, let me sit alone in a room, staring out of a window, and I can be content. Simple moments where all you have to do is breathe, that’s pretty special. I’m thankful for such moments.