Throw away the litter, find the goodness

Cathy Adams Personal Reflection, self-aware parenting, Writing 0 Comments

I took a walk with my almost-done-with-Kindergarten-6-year-old today.

At her suggestion we took a garbage bag with us because she wanted it to be a “litter walk”. She explained that we pick up litter as we move and talk.

And that we did. We walked through the whole park and found so much junk to throw away – this created much discussion and much to contemplate. AND, there was money to be found, lots of unclaimed dimes and nickels.

OH, did I mention that we watched a mama bird feed her babies over and over again? How many times have we walked past those birds? How many times have we missed such a gorgeous display of nature?

That’s the interesting thing about a litter walk – there is so much yuck to get rid of, but there is so much goodness right next to it. And that’s the cool intention of the walk – clean up the yuck so it’s easier to see the good.

A few things we learned: next time wear gloves (then we can pick up the gross gum….maybe), and keep the walk short. We decided that keeping it simple makes us more excited for next time.

We didn’t decide we were going to do a walk every day, we just decided that we enjoyed it.

We decided we liked seeing the birds, finding the money, and cleaning up the park. We decided that a litter walk felt important.

So much of what I do in a day feels necessary, but maybe all of it would feel easier, and more enjoyable, if I first threw away the yuck so I could see the good……like, for example, a lovely conversation with a six-year-old girl.

That definitely feels important.