I found a quote the other day that made an impression on my Messy Toddler Morning set-up. The theme that morning was making stick-y structures and the quote was “Children still need a childhood with dirt, mud, puddles, trees, sticks and tadpoles” -Unknown.
I had that kind of childhood with the simple resources of my surroundings to unlock my imagination inviting hours of curious play. I set-up a very simple Messy morning that day with potting soil (clean dirt) water, sticks, stones, a puddle tray and the means with which to simply be in the curious present. The sentiment of the quote felt like a key to life’s mystery and what it had translated to in my head was, Keep It Simple. I’ve written on this before.
I don’t know about you but I tend to over complicate the simplest things so any reminder to Keep It Simple is just the mantra I need to take into all of the parts of my day. Being in business is anything but simple but maybe it doesn’t have to be. I can use this mantra to delegate my priorities and set aside things that have too much flash and fanfare- those are always my biggest distractors.
I was a kid that played in the mud and dug holes in the earth with sticks. I played neighborhood with everyday food and packing boxes and made sculptures out of salt dough (which has three simple ingredients). I think in part as least I created the studio as an homage to childhood and the simple magic that can be in store if we notice what is already around us.
I love quotes. This one about childhood surprised and inspired me with it’s intentional focus. You know, we as a world do need this reminder,  not just our kids, we need it for ourselves too. So, after writing this out my modified mantra will be, Dial it down and keep it simple, that’s where joy lives.