inhale, exhale

The other day, Veda gleefully recounted that they are now learning about living and non-living things at school. Oooh, science. Call me geeky but I am happy about this development.

So I asked her for examples of living things and she answered: plants, dogs, animals, us! What about non-living things, then? “Pillow, bed,” she replied. How do you know that something is a living thing I asked her. She said “If it walks, eats, talks, breathes.” Would you call a robot a living thing then? “No,” came the reply. But, it walks and talks, I answered back. “But Ma,” she answered a bit exasperated, “it doesn’t breathe.” Sigh. Ain’t kids grand?

I related this story to my good friend Aimee and she recounted her brush with this particular subject back when she used to be a pre-school teacher. She asked her pupils what characterizes a living thing and one child answered: “they move.” Suddenly, a strong gust of wind went through the room and all the children excitedly spoke: “the wind, the wind! It moved. It must be a living thing.” It took sometime for the class to move on after this – they all went quiet for awhile pondering this statement.

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. ~Oprah Winfrey