Scotch Tape

We live in a world with limitations. Too much salt is bad for you. Too many calories, too little exercise, too much alone time, too much time with people, too much work, too much play. And so it follows that we all assert that "all things in moderation" is the way to go, the way to raise our kids and the way to stay out of trouble. That is a reasonable, practical approach. It never gets us into trouble. But it never unleashes us, either. You will never dream of anything or start anything that inspires you if you just colour within the lines or think inside the box. It's safer, but lifeless. It's like Michelangelo being asked to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and saying, "Thanks, I'll go with a nice taupe."

Some time ago I noticed my son loves to do arts and crafts....make forts, rock collection boxes, cardboard houses, spaceships, carports, etc. and in doing do he goes through a tremendous amount of scotch tape. Obscene amounts. You would have to be The Incredible Hulk to break through most of them. Some of his creations are made entirely of tape, I think. The first time I saw this huge consumption of tape emptying all of the tape in the house I got pretty annoyed...that's not cheap stuff. I was about to ask him to go easy on the tape when I thought of how we teach our kids and ourselves about limitations, and I realized I did not want to douse his flame of interest, and one of his main tools for bringing his imgination to life. Sure, it would be good to waste fewer resources, but some thing in life, or at least in growing up, ought to be abundant. Steven Covey in his 7 Habits book talks about embracing an "abundance mindset" versus a "scarcity mindset" and that has always stuck with me. I need to cultivate more of that kind of thinking in my own life, and in my kids.

So Connor doesn't know it (I'm generous but not crazy!) but I have made a conscious effort to put no limits on his consumption of scotch tape, and I even go help him find more when he needs it. He can have all the tape he wants, an endless supply. There will be no growling, no grumpiness or reluctance on my part. He will have it in abundance, and his imagination will live on, in abundance.