Follow Your Wonder - 24x30

For the children at heart, the ones who can lose themselves in (or desire to reconnect to) the world of play. Your sense of curiosity and possibility is one of the greatest gifts. Keep cultivating your wonder, follow it - don't ever let it die.

Details: Acrylic, spray paint, oil stick, wood on 1.5" deep canvas. Finished with matte varnish and framed in black float frame.

INSPIRATION

Childish Girl was easily excited, often jumping up and down and clapping her hands with glee. She loved to spontaneously run up to large trees and exclaim “come on, let’s CLIMB that!”. She often saw inanimate objects for what they could - a wooden spoon was far more exciting if it were a wand - and movie watching was always more fun in a fort. 

Childish Girl’s fascination with the world didn’t fade in adolescence. In fact, it became even stronger in adulthood. Desk work was better with a cozy blanket and warm drink, shoes kicked to the side. Cleaning dishes was more enjoyable with pop songs on blast, and did the toilet really need to be cleaned today, when the sun was shining and calling her name?

It didn’t go unnoticed that Childish Girl’s efforts to pursue more fun in her day to day weren’t often welcome by other adults. Resistance and reluctance were familiar retorts to her eager invitations to play. Eye rolls and exasperated sighs were common expressions to her tiresome antics. “Don’t be so childish”, “don’t be so immature!”, they’d say. It would have been easy to accept boring as normal but the call was too strong to keep exploring.

Sometimes it was lonely, but Childish Girl couldn’t separate herself from her wonder if she tried. She loved losing herself in the ways the leaves danced on trees in the wind, and how colorful tree bark looked when viewed two inches from her face. So, Childish Girl learned to relish in her own company, keeping herself entertained.

Now, Childish Girl boldly rebukes she’s not childish at all, she just knows the value of following her wonder.