I SPY

“I spy –” through smudged glasses.

“I spy –” from a third-story window.

“I spy –” remnants of the past and wonder, Where did the time go?

In childhood, we looked to the world around us to plan the people we would be today. We knew ourselves vibrantly, the way only a child could. We harvested each detail like we were putting together a puzzle, certain that everything would someday find its place.

Today the jigsaw is jumbled. In adulthood, that sense of surety fades. We look around us, grappling to find it again, but the world is not nearly as wondrous as it once was. The tutus and toys in the closet have been replaced by blazers and unread books.

We find ourselves suspended in time, wondering how to reinstate that childlike confidence. We knew who we wanted to be then, and had the (perhaps naive) assurance that everything was going to be okay.

The world is different now, we are different now, but sometimes the small things bring us back.

“I spy” a man in a red and white shirt.

“I spy” a little toy action figure.

“I spy” in the small things, the person I once thought I would be.