Encyclopedic Elegance

I once paid too much for a set of encyclopedias which turned out to be missing "G" and "Ch-Cz." Never before has a mistake that big (20 volumes big) turned into such a blessing. The leather is scuffed from the summer day when child #1 and her friends each took one out to the porch to look at the pictures. (I didn't mind, because really, what harm can a few scuff marks do when two whole volumes are missing.) Some days I find all three of my children strewn across the living room carpet, surrounded by a sprawl of these blue bound treasures.

The best part is the elegance of mind I am seeing in my children. I love their excitement as they bring me cool pictures to look at. My favorite moment of all occurred when my son, who is usually only interested in dinosaurs, fish and machines, pointed to a picture of native Puerto Ricans doing a dance in native dress and said "Mom, these people are beautiful." That is an elegance of mind that cannot be obtained in mindless sitcoms or light entertainment.

Just this week as I watched my son's gymnastics class I found myself between a Gucci handbag on one side, and two moms discussing exotic vacations on the other (Disneyland with the kids, cruises with the hubby, Italy in the summer, China next year, etc.) I pulled out my book on brain mylenation and dove in. (It's a book called "The Talent Code" and it is a delight. Not as well written as a Malcom Gladwell book, but close. Think of it as "Freakonomics" for neuroscience. A seriously, good read.)

Suddenly, I felt deeply ... wealthy. I had a treasure of great worth. And despite my peanut butter smudged sweater, and a hair-do provided by my two year old, I felt intrinsically elegant.

I am learning that certain experiences leave a deep and beautiful mark. They are never the easy ones - but they are the ones that give us our true beauty. Hmmm, how often do I choose an encyclopedic experience over a little mindless fluff? I could learn a lot from my kids.