Buddha bubbles

"We should not complain about impermanence, because without impermanence, nothing is possible" - Thich Nhat Hanh

Picture taken by Finley

It was Saturday morning and we had just finished eating our fruit salad when Finley's eye caught the bottle of bubbles on the shelf. He's become really good at blowing bubbles and holding the bottle by himself, dip and blow.

Dip. Dip. Blow.

He has also developed this high-pitched three-note melody that goes something like "aaahuhaah" when the bubble he is blowing pops before it leaves the bubble wand. The cuteness of that sound never gets old.

This is the shape of that sound.

This Saturday though, he was becoming increasingly troubled by those bubbles that did make it off the wand to float gracefully in the air, sunlight shimmering off their soapy skins, only to pop and sadly disappear as if they were never there.

I started talking to him about Buddha's ideas on impermanence and how we can appreciate the beauty of the bubbles without getting too attached to them. I think he stopped listening after I said Buddha and seemingly my deep life lesson fell on deaf ears. Instead, he went over to the bookshelf and pointed up at our own Buddha who has regrettably become somewhat of a bookend (only temporary I promise). "Booda Booda!" he cried in excitement. I went over to fetch it for him and he proceeded to happily blow bubbles with Buddha, and then happily pop the bubbles with Buddha as well. For the rest of the day, Finley and Buddha played together, ate together and drank together. I love being reminded, when trying to 'teach' Finley something, or impart some wisdom, that really, he is the one who is constantly teaching me.

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