KOMARI

The focused and innate drive to explore and experience, to learn and to keep on learning, is easily observable in young human beings. I had the privilege to have been very present for my only child's early developmental years. His love for reading, bicycling, and making art, was instilled in him and displayed by him at a very early age. And now nearing a decade he continuous those interest, and finds so much joy when a new skill or technique is discovered.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a parent, because it has allowed me to reflect on many important lessons and viewpoints that I had long ago discarded when I decided I needed to become an adult. The first and most important lesson I learned from my child, he vocally reminded me around the age of 5, his job as a child is to "play". Therefore, in order for him to succeed at his job, I need to provide him the tools. Not so much the material of plastic toys (which he has aplenty), but more so the material of my presence.

I learned to be a patient play partner. I learned to listen to his instructions, because they mattered to the story he was trying to create through our play. I learned that playing takes lots of time and patience, and sometimes you'll have to re-play the same scene, "¡Una vez más, papá!". I learned, that I needed these lessons, to remind me to focus and be present in the moment being created by the person who matters most in the room.