Wishes
By: Christine Hersom
(4 mins)
Have you ever blown the seeds of a dandelion? Or, thrown a coin into the well? Wishing is a childlike adventure that I still embrace today.
As an adult, I know that I must have a plan to work, pay the bills, and plan for retirement. While I embrace these plans, I still embrace the magic of wishing. It lets the child in me come out to play once in a while.
Wishing, to me, reminds me of the innocence of childhood. Every year I look forward to dandelion season in my part of the world. My father hated these silly little weeds. He would spend hours every weekend pulling their roots out and throwing them in the compost heap. He complained all the time when the dandelions were in bloom. He would have burned every lawn with dandelions if he could have gotten away with it. I loved the dandelions. They may have been a little weed, but they spiced up the greenness of the lawn. But more important to me was when the dandelions went to seed. I would sit for hours in the middle of the lawn blowing the dandelions. Watching the confetti-like seeds float around me was like being at a party. It was necessary to make a wish each time you blew. I would wish for the most grandiose (in my mind) things. Some of my more grandiose wishes were for the Jolly Green Giant to visit., Heidi to invite me to her Alps, and that I would find Charlotte’s Web in the barn. I was a huge reader, so my wishes were always about things I had read. I did have a more realistic wish when I was young. I wished daily that I would only grow to be five feet tall. I wanted to be a jockey in the Kentucky Derby…Needless to say, that wish didn’t come true. I am five feet four inches tall. Way too tall to be a jockey though still considered short by the world.
Fast forward to today. The children that I watch love the dandelions as much as I do. I encourage the blowing of seeds in every direction for days. Over the years, my lawn has grown from a couple of dandelions to an entire yellow patch on all three acres. It suits me fine. We spend days blowing the seeds. The kids wish for ice cream for lunch, a day making slime or having Christmas once a week. Like when I was a kid, their wishes are fun and grandiose.
I try at least a couple of times during the dandelion season to “grant” their wishes. We eat ice cream for lunch, make slime, and swim in our clothes. (One little boy wishes for swimming in his clothes every time he blows on a dandelion). It’s the little things that make us happy.
Now that I am an adult, you would think I would wish for retirement or being wealthy. Nope! I still wish like a child. I still haven’t seen the Jolly Green Giant. I still haven’t been to Heidi’s Alps. I’ll be honest, I hate spiders, so I have stopped looking for Charlotte’s Webb. I keep wishing for silly childhood wishes to happen. I know that these wishes are silly, but they are fun. We can’t spend our whole lives with only adult pursuits. As I am writing this, I find myself wishing that everyone would stop and blow a dandelion, make a wish at the wishing well, or wish on a falling star. Allow the magic back into your life. Wish for the childlike magic of our youth. You will be surprised by how it makes you feel. It takes some of the stress away from our adult lives. It puts a smile on your face and a rainbow in your heart. Opening our hearts to the wonder of the world through a child’s eye is one of the most amazing things to do. Children are not yet jaded by life. They see the beauty in everything.
I am not sure when we lose our childlike innocence, but I love to reach out and touch it from time to time.
So, as you are reading this, I hope you will stop and make a wish!
Christine Marshall Hersom
All Things Wellness, LLC
christinehersom@yahoo.com
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