Keeping the Real in a Child's Palm

One afternoon, thinking to reorder the things piled behind the counter,
I crouched down and rummaged about back there—
and, just like tidying toys, drifted off halfway through…

I took out the toys inside, one by one,
looked each over again,
and found myself wondering:
"What kind of child would love a toy like this?"
"As they play—what interactions, what mood would arise?"
"What could this toy stir across the five senses?"
"In the exploring, how might it light up a child's abilities and imagination?"

I touched each treasured toy lightly,
feeling their different textures,
imagining their different ways of play.
With palm and fingertip,
slowly, finely, I felt the shifts from coarse to smooth,
the material's own native grain, its nature—
real changes, genuinely perceived through touch,
gathering and taking shape in the heart.

Rising from behind the counter,
looking out at the light and the scene drifting past the door,
I thought…
in a world filled more and more with the virtual,
we'll need, all the more, to place the *real* into a child's palm—
so that with their instinctive senses they'll remember
what "realness" feels like.

The realness in those palm-sized toys
pulled me back from the last warm glow of the afternoon sun—
to the wooden toys strewn across the floor,
each giving off its own faint scent,
and the very real fact of work not yet done 🙉

Right then.
Time to tuck them back into the cabinet, one by one.
(ties on headscarf)

🌿 Realness is to feel a thing's existence with body and mind.
🌿 Groundedness steadies the spirit, and brings contentment and calm.