Magical Routines

I've been tutoring kids from South Seattle's High Point neighborhood this year. All the kids that sign up for after school tutoring in this neighborhood are immigrants - mostly African, with a smidge of southeast Asian among the group. They are charming in all the ways that kids are, overlaid with this unique insight into their new culture.

I was helping one child with his reading comprehension, and we came to an unfamiliar word to him - routine. So we talked about what a routine was, from the mundane daily routines to the wiggle, giggle- inspiring routines of dancers, musicians, and other artists. To test his comprehension, which after all is my duty, I asked him to tell me about one of his routines.

With a shift in his chair that revealed both mischievousness and shyness, he said, "Well, every morning when I wake up, I immediately close my eyes and try to make myself into a magician." OMGoodness, if that is not the coolest thing to say, then I am not a true red-head.

I am reminded of how unbounded we are as children every time I have the privilege of hanging out them. While I don't imagine that I am being transformed into a magician every day, I do firmly believe that every day, we have a choice to embrace a view of ourselves that is wide, and deep and so much fun, so valuable to each and every person we encounter during the day.