“Mommy, why don’t you play anymore?”

“Mommy, why don’t you play anymore?”

Last month, @kliola was on stage describing the moment her daughter innocently asked her this question. Her words sank from my ears to my gut in less than a second.

Katherine defended all the forts and games she has orchestrated. She was met with, “No, Mommy, why don’t you really play?”

Whew. You felt that too, right?!

Pretty recently, James expressed a similar observation. He said I “make” the fun, but I don’t “have” the fun. When he said it, I laughed. That’s what moms do, and I accepted his comment as a job well done. But hearing Katherine describe her daughter’s experience hit in some kinda way. It felt different, personal.

Katherine then asked a series of questions that have been on shuffle mode in my brain since:

~What is being?
~How do we feel our being when we are living in the wake of other’s expectations?
~How do we get to being?

The first step for Katherine was having an openness to self-exploration. She got curious about herself. She said phones were an unfortunate landing place for curiosity. That resonated.

Katherine’s vulnerability and willingness to share her journey to being is inspiring mine. Maybe yours too. ~Erica

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