Monday, June 13, 2011

HOW TO BE IN THE MOMENT – 101 Little Tips

 TIP #71
Play with a stick.
Feel it, peel it, smell it, scrape it, split it, bend it, break it, balance it, bite it, build it, flick it, float it, carve it, spin it or draw with it.

A young child will think a stick's about the most interesting, entertaining thing there is…until taught otherwise.

Be that child.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's interesting, because a few days ago, I let go and let the stick play with me. It threw me all over the place. :)

Jeffrey Willius said...

Isn't that why they say "Speak softly and don't carry too big a stick"? Love your perspective Bernie!

Jon Hanson said...

George Carlin had a great bit about sticks.. it was something along the lines of how when he was a kid all you needed was a stick to be entertained for hours. And he wondered whether kids these days even know what a stick is... he was the best. Definitely miss him.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.. always good to find locals. Tweet me when you put up new posts - I'll always retweet for Minnesotans!

SD
The Simple Dude

Jeffrey Willius said...

Thanks for the comment -- and for following! Yes, I'd forgotten Carlin's stick bit. He was great. I think today kids might think of a stick as a flash drive.
I tweet about all my new posts -- don't you have to follow me on Twitter to get them? Or can I tweet just you?

Craig said...

Hi Jeffrey. When I moved to Toronto I didn't know anyone so I used to go to the park a lot. I was still young then, in my early thirties, and I find a two or three foot stick, and I would run along and throw it as high as I could with one hand, and then do my best to catch it with the other hand. It was a real body/mind synchronization exercise, and a lot of fun. Thanks for the reminder of those enjoyable Sundays at the park.

Jeffrey Willius said...

Hi Craig -- I'm glad my post brought up a pleasant memory for you. So, did that exercise make you ambidextrous?
Your memory recalls my doing pretty much the same thing with a pencil once. Still have a faint dark spot in the palm of one hand where, trying to capture it between my hands, the tip drove into my flesh! I learned something that day.

Anonymous said...

A stick was the handle that held all your wordly possesions that were wrapped in the cowboy blue "kerchief" on your road to somewhere.

Craig said...

Ouch, that sounds like a painful lesson! I was lucky not to ever bang my hands. Yes I definitely had some ambidextrous thoughts in my play. I would switch sides with different patterns, doing one side once then switching, or doing one side thrice then switching. I remember that it was clearly easier to toss with the right hand and catch with my left hand.

Jeffrey Willius said...

Anonymous -- What a wonderful, poetic image you paint! So true to the wistful, restless thoughts of a young (or old) romantic like me -- and, I presume, you. Thanks for your comment -- I'd love to hear more from you!

Jeffrey Willius said...

Craig: Very interesting! So, what do you do with your hands these days?

Toyin O. said...

oh, the beauty of being a child again.

Jeffrey Willius said...

Hi Toyin -- Ah, but you ARE still a child at your innocent, vulnerable core! I think we all can re-connect with that wondrous, eager-to-learn place in our spirits.
I may have to shed a few layers of stress and/or cynicism, but then all I have to do is show up, pay attention and not be in a hurry to leave.
Thank you so much for visiting One Man's Wonder!

Craig said...

Hi Jeffrey, It's funny you ask about my hands. I'm a Rolfer, if you know what that is. If you don't, it's a form of deep tissue body re-education. Been at it for 17 years. It's a craft where it's somewhat important that you can use both sides of your body equally, so the ambidextrous theme carries into that too.

Jeffrey Willius said...

Craig -- Very cool...as long as the left hand knows what the right hand is doing! ;-)

John Pearson said...

Play with a stick... by looking at the lichens and learning their names. Yours has a gray rosette lichen (Physcia) and a yellow one I don't recognize.

Jeffrey Willius said...

Hi John -- Thanks for visiting One Man's Wonder and commenting! You definitely found an angle to the wonder of this stick that I hadn't thought of.
You have a great blog - love the post about the prairie mystery and am now following. Heck, it's the least I can do for an Iowan! (I'm in MN)

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