The BBBS of Los Angeles has changed my life in many ways. When my little sis' and I were initially matched, Mya wasn't too fond of the great outdoors. Video games and TV took up most of her time, and quite honestly, I would sometimes take California's beauty for granted myself.
As a child growing up in a small town, I was always outside... rain, shine or blizzard. To me, nature has always been God's living room, a place of peace. Some of my favorite memories stem from being outside with my sisters, exploring the great outdoors.
In the summer we would invent state-of-the-art roller coasters with our radio-flyer wagon under our old pine, and transform the same wagon during the spring into an ambulance wagon that saved baby birds who had fallen from their nests.
During the fall, I loved the never-ending collection of assorted colored leaves. It felt as if I were in the fashion district of Paris, fabric shopping in the highest-quality fabric stores. After all, leaves were my fabric in making leaf garments for my sisters' dolls.
During the winter months, we would build snow women, forts, and fill igloos with icicles pretending that they were magical crystals... and for dessert, we made chocolate-covered snow cones.
The thought of Mya not having an ounce of this in her life saddened me. As amazing as technology is, the lifestyle of children today has changed as well. I wrote the book Naturehood in thanks to my initial interaction with little Mya. She inspired me to take this to the next level and to motivate other children to get off the computer screen, and to venture outside the backdoor screen.
I have donated these books to Big Brothers Big Sisters as a guide to Bigs and Littles. It helps us remember to get outside, go to the ocean and swim in the tide. Put those video games aside, hike in the forest and up mountains far and wide, with the perfect recipe for life included inside.
At this point and time, Mya and I feel a bit strange if we are not exploring the wilderness. We do her homework outside, have fancy picnics, go on hikes and are always collecting nature's paint to create "Sticktivities", a fun and free way to get creative and be inspired by nature.
Check out some of these nature crafts here:
Mya has reopened the door to my childhood, and I'm grateful-- After all, every childhood deserves Naturehood.
Thanks, Mya, for flying me around on your imagination plane-- since becoming a Big Sis', life hasn't been the same!
Zooming through Georgetown
