Baby Steps Are Not What They Seem

Baby Steps

“It’s easy to think of baby steps as tentative or small, but that’s not true. Instead, baby steps are a great unbalanced, wholehearted, enthusiastic lurch into the unknown.

Think about it. When babies first start learning to walk, they don’t take tiny, hesitant, little steps. Instead, they take huge, unbalanced stumbles that almost always fail. But then they get themselves back up, and they try again because they’re enthusiastic about learning new things.” Dane Carlson

Baby steps are on my mind as the twins turned one year old this month and are taking their first steps.  The day after their birthday, my daughter-in-law came across this quote by Dane Carlson on Instagram and copied it to me. We both agreed that we have been witnessing this with Isabelle and Evelyn. Every day, for a few weeks, the twin’s parents have been posting little video snippets reminding us all what it takes to learn to walk – lurching, stumbling, falling, grabbing, getting up and doing it again. And it goes on:

• walking, holding on to things, tentatively crawling up a stair or two, and eventually, with confidence, climbing up six or so.
• walking and letting go, taking a step into the unknown without support and finally, two or three steps on their own.

They Never Give Up

Click here for a peek

With each forward motion and fall, they seem to gain confidence and never give up. Curiously exploring a great expanse of living room, back yard, library and beach. I wonder what this hard-earned freedom might feel like to them.

What I like about Carson’s description and my great-granddaughter’s first steps is the reminder that when we learn something new, we aren’t expected to know how to do it. We learn how to do it by falling down and getting up again.

Some of you will remember when my mother took up knitting at age 98 to make Harry Potter scarves for her great-grandchildren.

•  It is important to add that she learned how to knit these scarves on YouTube, and the first scarf for her oldest great-grandchild had to be pulled apart and restarted 18 times.

I considered it remarkable that she was willing to do the tedious work repeatedly, and when I asked her, she simply said, “It is important to me.”

Believe me, she was frustrated, but she understood that learning requires effort and repetition and mistakes are inevitable.

Truthfully, when you try something new, guess what? You will fail. Failure is always part of the package when we try new things, and being willing to risk failure is a passport to living fully. Let’s do it.

Notes

1:) Firstly, thank you for the lovely messages I received on holiday. You are very kind, and I appreciate each one. I am home now and over my jetlag. As wonderful as it is to be away, it is always great to get home again. If only we could gather all the people we love and plunk them down in one place…

2:) Sleep Like a Baby. Speaking of babies, I remember another misused expression—”I slept like a baby.” This doesn’t strike me as the best metaphor since babies often wake up every two hours crying. Mind you, holding a baby who falls asleep in your arms is one of the most wondrous moments of life. Perhaps that is what the old adage is referring to.

3:) Banner photo is sunrise Aug 9th Gabriola Island. And the adjacent photo, one of several from my friend’s beautiful garden.

4:) Summertime Memories 2024. I loved the time we spent together from day 1 to day 16. Vancouver to Gabriola and stops in between. A deep bow to everyone (I have loveable family and friends, which counts the most), including precious friends I didn’t get to see.

5:) A big, big thank you to friends Jim and Sheila and to grandson Rowan for working for two plus full days making a birthday dinner for Opa. What a feast.

6:) The topping on the cake was when they all went down the stairs for a swim at 10:30 at night and had the magic and joy of splashing around in bioluminescence. You couldn’t get better than that. Thank you all for stopping by. See you next week. Warmly, Trudy