“As adults, we do a great job of making everything ordinary”
Me
In the grand, chaotic theater of life, where adults are often the self-appointed directors, there’s a peculiar phenomenon that unfolds daily. We, the grown-ups, with our sophisticated coffee machines and our ability to file taxes, have somehow become maestros at transforming the extraordinary into the utterly, mind-numbingly ordinary. But, as my sons regularly remind me, the ordinary is merely a disguise for the extraordinary waiting to be revealed.
A few years ago, on a day as unremarkable as a pair of beige socks, my sons embarked on an extraordinary journey. With the creative flair of seasoned engineers, they lined up our dining room chairs two-by-two, crafting an airplane in the heart of our home. This wasn’t just any airplane—it was a vessel of imagination, ready to whisk us away to destinations unknown.
As the captain and co-captain, my sons invited us, their adult audience, to be passengers on this inaugural flight. Each of us, caught in the humdrum of adulthood, was asked to choose a destination. And there we were, a bunch of grown-ups, momentarily shedding our cloaks of adulthood to embrace the childlike wonder offered by two little boys and a row of chairs.
It was a sight to behold—adults, usually bogged down by the weight of grown-up responsibilities, allowing themselves to be swept away into the world of make-believe. We flew to Paris, the Amazon Rainforest, and even the moon—each destination more fantastical than the last. Laughter filled the room, a reminder of the joy found in simple, imaginative play.
Watching this unfold, my coffee in hand (now seeming rather dull in comparison), I realized something profound. We don’t lose the ability to see the extraordinary—we just forget to look for it. It’s there, in the imagination of children, in the way a row of chairs can become a jet plane, in the laughter shared over imaginary in-flight meals.
This is the magic that children bring into our lives—the reminder that the extraordinary is all around us, hidden in plain sight, waiting for us to rediscover it. So, let’s take a cue from the little ones and embark on our flights of fancy. Let’s find the adventures waiting in our living rooms and the stories woven into our everyday lives.
Here’s to the extraordinary in the ordinary, to finding joy in make-believe, and to remembering that life is too short to always sit in neatly arranged chairs. Sometimes, you just have to line them up and fly.
