How to rediscover old wisdom and whimsy

Sisters on the monkey bars

My Grandy at almost 90 still sends cards for every conceivable holiday to her incredibly lucky grandchildren, and untold other fortunate acquaintances in her address book. My Valentine's Day card included a couple photos, including this one of my sister and I playing on the monkey bars when we were kids

As always, my Grandy is imparting not one important wisdom with her card, but two!

The first, of course, is the card itself The importance of written correspondence which is an art that is not just dying, but pretty close to dead. When was the last time someone mailed you a Valentine's Day card? If you're not one of Grandy's grandchildren, I fear that you may not be able to remember such a time.

The second equally important lesson is to remember being a kid. It sounds really simple, to recall key memories and moments from you childhood in a way that makes them blur together as one event. Childhood.

But how often do you really remember what it was like to climb a tree, the terror, the thrill, the focus? What Halloween smelled like when the whole neighborhood grilled hotdogs at the clubhouse? What leaves sounded like when you crunched through the woods on a fall afternoon searching for fairies? How did the wind feel when you opened an umbrella and thought, "Maybe, I can fly!"? What did those wild blueberries taste like when your hands grew sticky from picking and eating on a North Carolina mountain?

When I first saw that photo with my sister, I couldn't remember the exact time. There were so many times we played on playgrounds. But I do remember how much we loved them. How Grandy and Grandaddy would hunt for the best playgrounds around for us. How even the looking for the playground was a kind of playing. And, when we outgrew playgrounds, trips to the mall with my mom and sister became teenage playing. When stores felt a little magical, and lunch and long days walking and talking were almost the entire point of the experience. Remembering all of this feels like remembering a sundrenched afternoon. There were no bad weather days.

If you're fortunate enough to have a childhood and teenage years full of tangible things -- playgrounds, parks, swimming, laying in the grass watching fireworks, malls -- then the world we occupy right now can feel a bit dull. Not just because we're glued to screens and computers and work. Of course, that is part of it. But the other part, is that we no longer interact with the world in the same way. Maybe because we've forgotten how.

Just because you've forgotten the old wisdom of your childhood, doesn't mean you cannot rediscover it. Both by remembering what you loved as a child -- books, movies, music, activities -- and trying to engage with them again.

And, while you're trying to reignite your old childhood wisdom, you should also dig in to old wisdom of older books. Read Pride and Prejudice, That Hideous Strength, Vanity Fair, This Side of Paradise, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edith Wharton, Shakespeare, Dickens. Was it written more than 10 years ago? 20? 30? 100? 100+? Dig in and start there.

I picked up a fantastic book given to my parents by my grandparents last time I was in Georgia called Photographing Fairies. Certainly given to use because of a deep love for the movie Fairytale: A True

Story.

I also grabbed a copy of Ella Enchanted, which was one of my childhood favorites and is a current inspiration for a book I'm writing.

Now, you've made it all this way! You've begun to think about the things you loved as a child, the tangible memories you have and want to recreate. You also (hopefully!) are thinking about reading a book written in 1990. Then one written in 1940, 1920, 1836, 1813, 1600.

So, what are some other things you can do to rediscover old wisdom and whimsy that aren't things you've heard a million times before by people who are obsessed with telling you to touch grass?

You can infuse a little wisdom and whismy into absolutely anything with the right attitude. Take a walk, but instead of bringing your phone, bring a pair of binoculars and appreciate the nature around you from a new perspective. Get dressed in something colorful. Listen to a song you loved before you were ten years old, a favorite song, three times in a row. It doesn't have to be big shifts or big changes. Just consciously, rediscovering, trying to remember the lessons you once knew so well but have lost over time.

Spring feels like the right time to rediscover all of this important beauty. Embrace it!