Puddle Hopping and Other Thrilling Prospects

I think the world is in dire need of more unadulterated joy. I think we could all use more puddle hopping, jungle gym climbing, fall leaf leaping, and tree climbing. I have to think that if we felt more encouraged and comfortable doing those sorts of things we’d enjoy a richer perspective just as we get a different view from high up on a tree branch than we can from the ground.

These last couple of days have been exceptionally rainy. That’s okay. I mean I live in the Northwest so we get used to the rain and I know I’ve written a fair amount about rain storms and cloudy skies as metaphors for life, so I’m not complaining really. I wouldn’t mind having a sunny weekend now and then, but really I definitely prefer the rain to wildfire threats. But I watched something during my lunchtime walk today that made me smile and think that shifted my perspective on rainy days.

I was just rounding a corner when a girl with her mother walked pass me heading in the other direction. The girl seemed awfully excited and I assumed she was probably heading to dance class because their a studio straight ahead in the direction they were heading. Then I noticed her wings and her unicorn horn and her bright pink rain boots. I beamed at both of them a completely genuine and spontaneous smile. I fought the urge to laugh out loud out of pure delight at seeing a girl be exactly who or what she wanted to be.

I complimented her on her very stylish wings and the girl said thank you in the sweetest and shy way. Her Mom had been guiding half nudging her in the right direction. And after smiling back at me she continuing on her trajectory toward the front door of the studio’s building. But then the girl stopped. Right in front of her was a deliciously glassy and huge puddle just begging to be tromped into. Her Mom picked up on her daughter’s thinking right away and in an attempt to cut that line of thinking at the pass explained they didn’t have time and that her boots would get all wet, which was totally reasonable and sensible.

I watched for just one extra second to see the girl makes a couple of quick splashes around the rim of the puddle before heading into the building. I was very glad that she got a chance to dabble into the puddle somewhat at least, but it really got me thinking: why don’t we relish in the sheer joy of jumping into puddles? Especially as adults, why is it that we so rarely put down the guise of appropriateness and enjoy the thrill of simple and messy and fun things? I have a couple of ideas.

For one, so often our footwear isn’t designed for it. I’ll admit, I’m kind of a shoe horse. I don’t buy shoes very often but I take good care of them and I tend to look for bargains on really high quality shoes so they last a long time. And so many of the pairs I wear just aren’t designed for puddle hopping. In other words, if I want to be prepared and a bit more comfortable taking the leap so to speak into enjoying messy but thrilling experiences, I am much better off wearing my rain boots than leather loafers.

Another possible reason is because we fear what other people might think. It’s an interesting phenomenon adulting. A lot of the steps we take in becoming what we call adult are good and healthy. Learning how to be a bit more responsible, punctual, conscientious, and healthy are all fabulous goals. But somehow we also learn from cultural observations that adults should choose the route of least messiness, which, in lots of contexts can be beneficial. The task then is to decide what messes are worth cleaning up after. Getting some paint on grubby clothes might be worth it, playing by the side of a river could be worth taking off our shoes and let the mud ooze through our toes, and yes, especially we are wearing proper footwear, it can absolutely be worth get your feet a bit wet if the prize is puddle hopping.

The last major reason is a bit more complex. Sometimes as we go along the process of becoming adults we have to convince ourselves that it’s a good thing to forgo childlike activities for the sake of being responsible. And if we tell ourselves this enough times, we actually might get to a place where we aren’t just willing to accept it, but we actually start believing that it’s the only proper way of thinking. When we step up to our metaphorical or literal puddle, do we talk ourselves out of jumping because we’re not dressed for it or we’re heading to work and so we need to stay looking presentable. Or do we avoid the puddle outright because we are certain that puddle hopping is wrong. Not just messy but wrong.

I think the world is in dire need of more unadulterated joy. I think we could all use more puddle hopping, jungle gym climbing, fall leave leaping, and tree climbing. I have to think that if we felt more encouraged and comfortable doing those sorts of things we’d enjoy a richer perspective just as we get a different view from high up on a tree branch than we can from the ground. Not to say that one perspective is necessarily better than the other, but that we really need both so we can triangulate our path forward with life. So the next time you wake up on a rainy day I hope you’ll pull on your rain boots and slicker and hop a puddle or two. I think it could do us a world of good.