Outside the Box

Until you have been the mother of boys, you don't fully understand beauty.  I say this because I have gone through these last 40 years thinking I knew all of the things that were beautiful:  blue skies, flowers, wildlife, the ocean, rainbows, all of those picture-perfect things of enormous popular appeal.  But being around a little boy in all his contemplative glory for any length of time can cause one to rethink what one defines as beautiful.  In fact, being around an almost nine-year old boy who is pondering the theme Together we can... and how he would choose to illustrate that might cause one to stop and ponder how her son can see something so obvious and she can't. 



Looks like Little House on the Prairie, right?



Want to venture a guess what's under all of that grass?

So, it was a school Reflections project that actually inspired the whole idea of stopping and thinking.  While it was his choice to participate in this project, I didn't really expect him to actually have an understanding of the theme.  I thought it would be difficult to explain, and as it turns out, I didn't have to.  The theme was chosen for a purpose:  it leaves room for interpretation, and that's the whole point.  Divergent thought.   While his thoughts weren't exactly cute-as-kittens, picture-perfect beauty things, they did show evidence of some really deep thought on his part.

Trails...a bike-lovin' boy's dream.

The Little Nguyens have accompanied us on various trips to the landfill over the years.  While it might be a strange "field trip" for a child, it has been a great lesson in recycling and reduction for them.  The landfill eventually became filled to capacity, and the county did the most wonderful thing with it:  they built a park on it.  Yep.  They did.  The newest research (who knew there was landfill technology?) was used as the plan for the park was developed, and it was apparently quite a high-tech project.  Where there once was an ugly, smelly mound of garbage with a flock of gulls continuously circling overhead, there now is a beautiful children's playground, complete with trails and picnic spots.  After visiting last summer and taking our newest bike rider on the bike trails, the Little Nguyens played on the playground for awhile.  Instantly, they were in love.  I can remember the First Little Nguyen making a remark something like, "Wow.  It used to be so ugly here, but now it's so pretty."  Just another rolling hill covered with prairie grass, right?  Yep.  Who would ever know that the thousands of diapers and pull-ups my kids once dirtied are buried deep within the bowels of the Wake County Landfill Park?!  Ewwww.... yuck!  Let's not think about that.

 

And, of course, a fun playground!

 I asked the First Little Nguyen if he wanted to participate.  Of course, he did, so I asked him to think about Together we can... for awhile, to which he responded, "Well, I already know what I want to do."  When he said he wanted to photograph the landfill park, I was thinking Did he hit his head too hard on the bunkbed last night?  "Explain how you think that relates to the theme, Benjamin," I said.  And he did.  And then, it hit me.  I could completely see the sense in his thinking, and if I would just quit assuming that I always know the best way and the right thinking, I would have known that.  Maybe I need to enter more Reflections competitions.

So, these are the pictures he took that day back in early October.  And these are the pictures he entered in the Reflections program competition.  And these are the pictures that won him 2nd place.  I guess it just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  And almost nine-year olds can totally think outside the box.



Mom and Benjamin
Reflections Reception, January 2011

 

Proud of his 2nd Place win...

  

With some other participants
Excuse the crazy hair.  It was...well, Crazy Hair Day!



Together we can ...

make an ugly place into a great place for all kinds of people to enjoy. For instance, the Wake County Landfill is now a fantastic park. It used to be a landfill and because it had so much garbage it became too full.  So, some really smart people built a park on it.  Now it is beautiful. 

~by Benjamin Nguyen