You never know what’s going to capture your attention. For me, it was yesterday when I saw a little child enthralled with a friendly dog outside our local coffee place. She squealed and raised her arms up over her head in a gesture of outright glee. And I remembered how often I have seen little kids do the same thing at the beach, at the ocean.
Perhaps it is the sheer stimulation of something so great, so overwhelming—like the sea and the sky or a joyful dog—that makes the innocent child want to connect with it, to embrace it with their whole little body. The photo, above, is one I took of my niece Julia years ago as she “got into the spirit” of Daytona Beach.
When do we lose the urge to make this gesture? I can’t remember the last time I saw an adult raise his or her arms in glee—save for the occasional football player making a touchdown. Do we just become too weighed down by gravity? Are we so encumbered by carrying too many heavy purses and bags that we can’t make our arms move anymore? With children, the arms rise of their own accord, no effort required. It seems we adults must focus and choose first.
Try it! When we raise up our arms in this unselfconscious way, something happens to our heart: it widens and opens and the lungs take in air in a big enthusiastic gulp. It actually feels really good. But would we be caught dead doing it in public? Me, below. . .not showing my face!
Copyright by Penney Peirce
