Kids

Longbranch 2009, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

I shot this kid playing in the ditch at Longbranch. Its amazing how you give a kid nothing and they make the world out of it. But you give a kid some programmed, i.e. a game, robot, puzzle - meaning something prescribed for a specific use or ONE solution - and it occupies them for minutes. Give them a ditch, static object, cardboard box and the enjoyment is hours (maybe days).

We prescribe too much for kids and ourselves. Everything is so structured, we/they are carted off to piano, karate, soccer, club, etc. etc. The genius and brilliance is the child IS FOUND when the child (and we) are given nothing but an imagination and free time to explore it. This is where true creativity and learning happen.

I often turn myself into a child weekly to stimulate my own wonder, explore my universe THEN it's amazing what surfaces. The ingredients are imagination (we all have it) and time. Simplify life by getting rid of the busy and I'm amazed at how much more I get to experience. Just like a pendulum, when it's at infinite speed (swinging back and forth so fast, faster, fastest) its at complete and TOTAL REST.