I have been on a journey learning how the qualities of childhood are the qualities of transformative educators, parents, social entrepreneurs, and all those in the global village of childhood. But also the qualities of play, creativity, risk taking, resilience, and collaboration are powerful in everyday moments and as a lifestyle.
For example, I was getting a croissant and some water at the DTW terminal and the woman working there quickly complained how she “hated her job” even though the smell of fresh hot croissants is not bad. I listened deeply to her and asked her about it. We had a real conversation. And then when I was paying for my breakfast I said I’ll also take this $85 dollar water bottle and she said “that is actually $105 water bottle and laughed.” Then she said, “I like you.” I saw her light up. I appreciated her and how powerful that moment of playfulness was. I also hope she gets a different job soon.
At a bar in my neighborhood on the Eastside of Detroit, my super sexy girlfriend and I met a very stressed owner who was bar backing while also running the whole restaurant. She was very welcoming and slowed down for a moment to connect with us. She shared that there would be a poetry event in the restaurant later that night and encouraged us to join it. I asked her if she would be sharing any poetry. She shared that she will not be but that she used to write poetry as a kid. She quickly recalled this poem she wrote titled ‘Why are chairs called chairs?’ and how the poem asked the question – why are chairs not called trees? At the end of the night I said to her that the “trees” we had at the bar were the most comfortable trees we had sat on ever and thanked her for the night. She laughed and looked at me with the biggest smile.
At a coworking space in Detroit called Bamboo, I was busy talking with a fellow member when a potential new member came over to us and asked how we liked it there and that they were considering becoming a member. We discussed it for a bit. They decided they were going to join and thanked us. Then I playfully asked them, are there any other big life decisions we can help you with. He thought for a split second and shared that he and his wife were considering whether or not to have a second child and what would we advise? We all laughed – at the vulnerability, at the surprise of this playful conversation. We considered the multiple points of perspective from his wife, to his, to their first child’s perspective and discussed all the factors involved. In the end, he thanked us and said if the new baby was a boy that he would name them after me.
It is moments like these that I feel most alive. These moments are playful, they are rebellious, they are genuine, real, and fun. It is what life is all about – the surprise, walking into the unknown of a new conversation – the ways in which the ordinary can become extraordinary in any moment. I love that. I see that as a lifestyle and as an intentional approach to everyday moments and not just as a framework or orientation to social change or roles in which you connect with children. That is what childhood changemaking is all about – a playful spirit, reconnecting with your inner child, and bringing the best qualities of childhood into your life to live most fully and joyfully.