the mind of a child

i think the best thing about kids is that their minds are open. keeping an open mind is a really tough thing for me to do as get older.

kids constantly question everything, and sadly adults think this is a bad thing! The amazing Richard Feynman said he used to question everything as a kid, encouraged by his dad who would always try to answer.

something i used to do as a kid, was when someone asked me if i could do something, was i would often reply, yes i can. and not do anything about it. sometimes i would expand to reply "i can, but will i?"

this used to annoy other people which made me do this for far longer than i should.

i've been doing a lot of reading recently, (while pretending to job hunt) and one of my favourite concepts i've come across is the idea not too dissimilar to the annoying phrase i used to say. it's a simple concept, and it's the idea that when you do things, you should not think that you're doing them because you have to, but because you want to.

i like it, because it's simple, you don't need to do anything different, you just need to think slightly differently. so, for example, instead of thinking, i have to go to the shops for someone else, think I want to (and then question why I want to do that!).
instead of thinking, i have to go to work, start thinking, i choose to go to work (even, i want to go to work!) and think about the reasons why you want to. and if the reasons aren't good enough for you, do something else.

soon, you start to realise that you're happy with what you're doing because they are choices you are making, and you are aware of this!
so, if you aren't happy with what you're doing, do something else!

something i want to do more of is take pictures. so here's another pic of mine (i don't think i've posted it before) which failed to win any prizes (so far). it's one of the busiest people crossing intersections in the world (probably) and is in japan. oxford circus in london was redesigned to be based on this. i didn't notice when i took it but the contrast between light and dark is quite something.