Recently I discovered podcasts as a motivational tool for my running. It surprises me how much I enjoy them, considering that I don't have the attention span to listen to books on tape or NPR. But for whatever reason, podcasts are like mental Reese's cups for me.
So the other day I downloaded a few podcasts from Oprah's spiritual channel. Two of which were an interview with Rainn Wilson. You know Rainn, right? He plays the character of Dwight from The Office (love that show!)
Rainn is a member of the Baha'i faith. Prior to listening to this podcast, I knew nothing of Baha'i. Wikipedia says that the Baha'i faith emphasizes spiritual unity - there is an emphasis in the unity of God, the unity of religion, and the unity of mankind. So Rainn Wilson wanted to find a way to bring spirituality to people in their 20s and 30s. He wanted to create a place to ask life's big questions. To express spirituality through art and creativity.
This led him to found, with two friends, the website Soul Pancake.
Soul Pancake strives to dig deeper to discover what it means to be human. And one way it does this is by asking 'big' questions.
During the podcast, Rainn (my fingers just automatically want to type Dwight!) tosses a few of these questions at Oprah, one of which is "What do you miss most about being 5 years old?"
Oprah is caught off-guard. She doesn't really have an immediate answer to that.
So I thought about it.
What do I miss most about being 5 years old?
You know what I miss?
I miss that carefree excitement and thrill that came in each day.
The simplest things were blissful.
Coloring in a coloring book - okay, how boring is that now? As a Mom, I do this with Pierce, and I'm happy to do it because it brings him great joy - but seriously, sometimes it feels like maybe a few brain cells are dying a long, painful death in the unstimulating process of coloring in the lines. But when I was 5? It was thrilling. And Playdoh? Now Playdoh made for a great day! And furthermore, speaking of pancakes....how titillating was it on the rare occasion you got to eat pancakes! For dinner! With strawberries!
Good gosh, remember when every little part of the day was so new and exciting?
Before you were jaded by those 'seen it all before' glasses?
Before all the 'been there done that'?
I miss being 5 because that was a time when life was viewed through a kaleidoscope of constantly changing, colorful lenses where everyday was an adventure of excitement.
How about you? What do you miss about being five?
The Baha'i faith is in my Kingdom of the Cults book.
ReplyDeletelovemom
Mom, you have a Kingdom of the Cults book?
ReplyDeleteAnd hello, stop worrying! I'm not joining the Baha'i faith. You know I've always liked learning about different religions.
Of course I have Kingdom of the Cults. Where do you think you got your interest in learning about religions? And I wasn't worried. I just thought you would be interested :-)
ReplyDeletelovemom
so, I still get great joy out of coloring books....maybe that's why i'm a pediatric nurse...the little kid is still inside of me! playdoh is awesome too.
ReplyDeleteWhat I miss about being 5 is how excited you are to grow up and becoming one year older. So excited for the 6th birthday...it seemed so far away. Now our next birthday comes way to fast and we dread it. Remember when you'd say your age was 5 and a half or three quarters? The birthday excitement sticks around until 21...it's down hill from there. :-p
I miss the exploratory play with friends and siblings. Everything was about discovery, role play, or a game. Such as when we would go to the abondoned old house to "play house". Or when we would go down to the creek and catch tadpoles and discover leaches. Or when we would get all the sheets we could gather up and all the chairs in the house and make a huge tent/fort in the living room. I miss making mud pies and mud balls then throwing them at the barn to seeing who could make most of theirs stick. I miss playing on the jungle gym and swings and how easy and fun it was. Of course no one is telling me I can't do these with my boys so I have every intention of joining in and even instigating if they'll let me.
ReplyDeletePaul
OK, first of all your comment back to your mom has me chuckling. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love Rainn aka Dwight. I follow him on Twitter and enjoy him immensely.
If I try to flashback to being 5 (or so) I can share what I've been remembering recently when I put PJs on my little one at night. We used to get baths (my brother and I) and be all fresh and clean, and then sit out on the porch with my parents and neighbors in our PJs. Sometimes my dad would bring a small TV out there for us to watch baseball games, sometimes we'd get a treat from the ice cream truck ... this is starting to turn into a Memory Lane type of post! ;)
And in talking about religions, have you ever read The Faith Club? I loved it. I lent it to my MIL, but you can borrow my copy via mail if you want when I get it back.
"Rainn (my fingers just automatically want to type Dwight!)"
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! I like you already! ;-)
Mothers have a way of worrying if our children are going down the right path.. The Baha'i faith sounds good and seems to be all about love.. Then you compare it with what God wants us to beleive and then then our senses wake up and tell us "I don't think so". But it's good to look at different religions but more important to know that there is only one God who loves us madly and wants us to be with him and study his word.
ReplyDeleteI think you are an amazing young lady.. I love your blogs and love your loving spirit. God Bless you.
I still love coloring. I wish that Connor would color more often so that I have an excuse to do it. I even have my own coloring books and crayons. had them even before Connor was born! :-P
ReplyDeleteI'm trying really hard to remember what it was like being five. I was in kindergarden, and I loved playing games with my friends, and building houses big enough to crawl inside with big wooden blocks. I loved the scratch-n-sniff alphabet books we got each week, each covering a different letter. I loved crawling under a table with a big bucket of colord wooden shaps, and arranging them into beautiful, colorful designs.
hi there,
ReplyDeletei'm one of the members of the SoulPancake.com core team and i'm so glad you found the site and are exploring Life's Big Questions here on your blog!
cheers,
golriz
Damn yes I miss being 5!!! Nothing to do but run around the neighbor hood, drink kool-aid... Wait for the ice cream truck and get one of those ice cream guys with gum balls for eyes...
ReplyDeleteHell yes I miss it!
What do I miss about being five??? Well, I'm not sure of my exact age (becasue I'm old)when this occurred, but I was thinking about it the other day. We had a huge yard with hills, a sunken garden surrounded by a stonewall and we used to pretend to be horses...wild horses...running and prancing and neighing...we used to tie a scarf through the back belt loop of our jeans (our tail) and we would flit around like a stallions on the run! Oh and about the pancakes...as a struggling mom of two, Friday nights was always pancakes...the kids remember that and say, "Yum".
ReplyDeleteHi - thanks for visiting my blog! This was a really interesting post. I don't watch The Office but I remember that actor playing creepy Arthur on Six Feet Under and he was soooo good! I can't wait to explore his site!
ReplyDeleteThere is a Bahai temple outside Chicago on the lakeshore that I have been to many times. It is GORGEOUS and open to visitors. Many people go there just to enjoy the gardens or visit the exhibit area about the faith.
http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple
I consider myself a panentheist and the Bahai faith has many of the same elements.