For The Moment

She was busy. The 10-year-old girl was keeping busy on the sidewalk in front of my home and my neighbor’s. I loved watching her from my living room window before heading out to talk with her.

With sidewalk chalk, she busily drew circles, circles, and more circles on our sidewalks. They were different sizes and different colors. Some were inside of others. Some were by themselves. I was very impressed with how exact they were. Until I started to watch, I thought she had perhaps drawn around the bucket storing her chalk. No. She drew them freehand.

When I asked this girl if she knew it was supposed to rain that night and her artwork would be washed away, she looked up and declared, “The circles are pretty now.”

The process was her joy. She wasn’t performing. She didn’t need something to last as proof of her talent. It wasn’t for that. She drew for the moment. And it was beautiful.