My daughter sees the world different than me. I’d like to think she’s a chip off of the old block, but I see her individual spirit rise, especially in these photos she took of our time together.  She sees the world with more emotion, more intensity, and more beauty than I do at times.  Here she takes in a twig for the color burst it brings to the dirt background …I see a branch dying.

She sees the beauty in everything. I’ve  had enough experience to feel cautious and cynical.  She takes in the world around her at face value.  She makes time to stop.  She not only sees, but she lingers.  She savors the flowers bursting into their full glory on every hike we take.

She is extremely hopeful.  She has big ideas.  She sees a horizon and makes plans to go beyond it.  Just because the sun is setting here, it is rising somewhere else.

She is as pure as this dandelion unblown.

But as soon as she learns the other side of a moment, she can wither quick and go to a dark place because she is afraid.  She is afraid of storms, mostly because she can’t see the view above the clouds. Yet, she is always searching for the silver lining to help raise her own spirits.

She is afraid of why bad things happen and why people have to hurt. We do our best to point her in the right direction, but she has her own perspective.  We can’t explain it all because not everything makes perfect sense.

We can reassure her with our love for her.  We can help her pay attention to the things that make her feel happy and secure.

We can provide her with our time and our  presence to get through a tough moment.

She is taking in the world from a different angle and I want to pay close attention to what moves her. I want her life to explode with good things but it will require me to not be moving so fast that I miss the moment where I might be needed most.

She is different than me.  She is carved out of me, but she stands on her own.  She will always be her own person and we may not always share the same view, but I will love her regardless.

She is independent in every way…and then I remind myself, aren’t we all?

(Note:  All pictures taken by Wilson except the one I took of her before blowing the dandelion:)