We've all got them, stories that resonate on some level with a deep knowing that it's what we came for. We might not talk about them that way, and yet a little microscopic looking reveals that there is a truth within us that does in moments of surprise, perhaps, shine through. I had one of those moments with my son recently.
We've been busy getting ready for the first day of kindergarten. When the big day finally comes, my 5 year old son announces to the room that he is going to wear the new beaded necklace his friend gave him the day before. His friend told him it was a necklace of strength for his first day.
He proceeds to put the long, colorfully beaded necklace over top of his t-shirt before we walk to his new school. A necklace of strength and courage, one that also perhaps reminds him of his friend who attends a different school.
Who my son is becoming in this next new phase of his life as he starts school is influenced not only by what he does at school but also the environment that surrounds and supports him. While his physical environment is important, his social environment is perhaps even more important from a life mission perspective
As a parent I often wonder how to create an ideal environment for his life mission when I'm not even sure what his life mission is. I believe it's something I can glimpse and he ultimately knows. And he does know it, I can have faith in that. I'm learning that if I listen, watch and pay attention, I'll see clues. Giving him the space to explore what he is naturally drawn to feels like an important piece of the puzzle. And surrounding him with the people that he is drawn to be with is a big part of that.
Which is why I spent the summer checking in with this one particular friend to see about a play date. It was a busy summer - July turned to August and then September. When the play date finally did happen, the timing was perfect - the day before school started. And the gift of the necklace was serendipitous.
Perhaps a quality he will develop in kindergarten as part of his life mission is strength, or perhaps another quality like creativity, or generosity. What matters is that he is surrounded by people who speak to him, who offer him support for who he is on the verge of becoming, and the space to allow that to be what it is.
It can be so challenging as a parent, or grandparent, to know how to do that, and if we listen and allow, and keep following our own urges, the magic happens.
Carissa lives on a large rock called Vancouver Island with her partner and 5-year old son.
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