Snails for breakfast, tigers with tea

This morning I had my breakfast next to snails. Live ones. Quietly doing their snail thing and leaving trails on the table as my boys shrieked and gathered more leaves to keep them from gate-crashing my tea.

 Luca, age 6

Watching the snail duet made me laugh and stop for a minute in the silver.

Lilly and I are continuously speed-trailing each other across the two-hour Perth/Sydney time difference, flying and responding to multiple and often overlapping messages via email, live chat, Australia Post packages, text and telepathy. Working within the driven space between us, there is little opportunity to look back as we meet self-imposed dead (life) lines, draw simultaneous breath at each artistic, technical and administrative hurdle/win, and balance the unpredictable front-line cycle of sickness, tantrum, wonder and exuberance of our own littleBIG kids.

Tonight we (ridiculously) worked on another art project via the slipstream of BIG, and laughed at the madness of the extra undertaking. We also recognize that the creative exchange between us is the reason this BIG thing flies at all. And so we give breath to it and honour the persistence of silver in the overwhelm.

My Dad used to quote Mencius to me at various teenage turning points, and I remember it now:

If you know the point of balance
You can settle the details.
If you can settle the details
You can stop running around.
If you can stop running around
Your mind will become calm.
If your mind becomes calm
You can think in front of a tiger.
If you can think in front of a tiger
You will surely succeed.

Mencius also said:

The great man is he who does not lose his childlike heart. 

Indeed, say the BIG kids. Play on. xx