I is for Innocence (A Repost)

Last night, as I looked at the picture I posted for i ♥ faces, I couldn't help but want to share the rest of that series. I hunted around and found my original post that showcased this sweet set, and two things struck me. I miss having time to blog in such a thoughtful fashion, and golly gee whiz, my girl might look different on the outside these days, but she is still the same person I described with she was 2 and a half. Gosh I'm BLESSED!

Here is the original post....Enjoy!

Innocence....as in "purity of heart"! My Sugar Bear is the picture of Innocence.
William Butler Yeats once said, “The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time”. I think of this, and it makes me sad. Why must the innocent child proceed through time, and lose that most precious gift? Why must that pure heart learn of sadness, anger, heartbreak, evil, destruction, and death?



Do you remember when blowing the seeds from a dandelion meant making wishes, magic, fairies, and fun? When did I grow up and realize that blowing dandelions just spreads weeds? When did I lose the magic? When did I stop believing. Oh how I wish....wish I could shield my Sugar from all things ugly in this world. I wish I could preserve her innocence forever.



"First I make a wish, then I blow real hard,
And the little dandelions blow all over the yard,
And I wait and I hope for my wish to come true.
Guess there's only so much a dandelion can do."
~A verse from Dandelion Song
(Linda Allen, Kristin and Jennifer Allen-Zito)



When I look into her eyes I see only the beautiful things in life. I don't see the lines of pain and sorrow. I don't see the knowledge of hurt and heartache. I see unconditional love and trust. I see belief....wonder....magic....and hope. She just closes her eyes and makes a wish.



She tackles each day with INTEREST. She doesn't hold back for fear of failure. She tries new things. She asks questions, and soaks up the answers as if she were a daisy reaching for the sun.



She looks on the world with INTRIGUE. She notices things I have long ago forgotten. She finds all things worthy of INSPECTION, and often deems them amazing. To her, even a bug deserves a second glance, a question, a moment of her life.



She lets her IMAGINATION run wild, and doesn't fear looking silly or IGNORANT. She has no hang ups about how she looks, or what she knows. She just does what seems right to her at the time, only sometimes looking back for that smile of encouragement from her mama.



She giggles, and snickers....


and the joy of life simply radiates from her soul. It blesses my heart to have captured this feeling in a photo. This single photo is the picture of INNOCENCE, of purity of heart. This small child knows what is right with this world. I find her to be so very INSPIRATIONAL. She makes me want to be a better person.


Indeed, I need to be a better person, as I have no doubt this INNOCENT child learned the following attitude from ME. There is no way, a child who finds great joy in the simple things could possible be this BORED with a daisy! Okay, so maybe it was the fourth time she asked to get off the rock and go play, and I begged, "please baby....just a few more pictures!"

Yup...that might have done it. THAT might have stole the joy right out of a perfect day of exploring. A perfect day of interest, intrigue, inspection, imagination,and innocence. Sorry Sugar Bear, Mama is several steps behind you...but she is learning...she is trying.

(These photos were taken this past July....if you are interested in seeing the others I took that day, please visit this post titled, "A Creek, some Cows....and a Sugar Bear!")