Talking to children (and adults) about life

For a long time, I had been looking for a book that I could read or use as a guide and foundation with my 8-year-old daughter to talk to her about the meaning of life. And not in the way society depicts life as always aiming higher, getting faster, striving further, but about what I know deep inside of me to be the truth.

When I heard about the book The Really Big Questions by Cynthia Hickman it was immediately clear to me that this book is not just for me and my daughter, but for everyone who has a feeling for the truth of why we are here.

When the books finally arrived in Germany, I held a beautifully illustrated, colourful book with drawings brimming with joy in my hands. My daughter straightaway looked at the pictures of the entire book and was burning to finally get started to read it.

In the evening at bedtime, we pick up the book to see which chapter we would like to read aloud. The language is simple and to the point and so the translation into German is easy for me. Each chapter deals with a question that you often asked yourself as a child. And each question is answered in such a pictorial and simple language that the whole experience is a real joy. Though the language is naturally very simple, you feel that the author did not particularly choose it for children to understand. One rather feels the ease and joy with which the questions are answered chapter by chapter.

There are ‘big’ topics like ‘Why are we here?’ but also ‘small’ topics like ‘Why did my parents separate?’ and each topic is presented in a tangible and understandable way, succinct and to the point.

The ‘tasks’ at the end of each chapter are particularly useful. They are about reflecting on how the child's day went. They are great conversation starters to find out what the child experienced and how they have moved during the day, at daycare or school. And also to come back to again, that in the end, it is always about being oneself and trusting one's feelings and to always keep in mind that there is only one or the other energy that determines our life here on earth. One separates us, makes us stand still, and the other brings us back to ourselves.

As Cynthia described it so tangibly in her book: There are light and dark balls of energy that people throw at each other. The dark ones you better drop and the light ones you throw out into the world ....

Filed under

Children, Energy, Parenting, School