Three Words of Wisdom

“Shoo!”

“Go outside and play in the garden!”

We were shooed outdoors daily around tea time to go play in the garden. We feigned indignance over being shooed while the mothers of mothers, mothers, and aunts sipped steaming tea, nibbled on glucose biscuits, and played Scrabble.

We did get to eat the biscuits later, but outside we went first. Outside we would play with the cousins and siblings, blending together, forgetting who was sibling, and who was cousin. I always wondered why the elders were so impatient and eager to get rid of us. Scrabble didn’t even seem that appealing anyways.

Now, I get it. I am the person who when inside feels too small, when whines get too whiney, when the kitchen needs a good sweeping, pushes open the window door with a flourish, before pointing to the outside, Go. Outside. Now!

With the two outside, I am able to get my equivalent-of-Scrabble-tea-fix, whether that is sitting down to read a book while munching on granola cereal, or hurriedly throwing turmeric, mustard seeds, and spinach in a pot that has my name engraved on it. (Thanks Nana!)

When I do venture outside, usually this happens after a few minutes, usually to help mediate between the two squabbling over stumpy chalk pieces, or to simply admire the outside, I am always struck by its beauty. By the new growth of green, by emerging flower stems, or by the flawless sky.

Outside in nature will never cease to be magical, and I am always transformed to a state of appreciation and humility, whether I am a child running around in my grandmother’s garden, or a multitasking mother on a wooden deck.

This is why I repeat these simple words of wisdom that were so often repeated to me, “Go Outside…Now!”

It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things. (Quran 2:29)

4 Comments

Hey Reem…so true. Sometime in the next month, you need to come riding with me. Danny says he can’t wait to tote two very special little girls and one really sweet Pakistani girl around for a while…..and to teach those two little ones the sheer joy of having their palms tickled by a pair of lips eating an apple slice, or of a nose trying to nudge it out when it falls in your lap.