THE FIRST STEPS

This is an adventure. My son took his first steps this week. Everything about this sentence overwhelms me.

The idea that he can now explore the world, discover its nuances and perceive the immensity of living things is, without a doubt, the foundation on which I aspire to build his education. To understand other places, to observe them, and to respect them. Treading the ground with all the delicacy we need to ensure our feet never damage it and learning to dabble, carve out the way, and marvel. I'm even more moved by this than I could have ever imagined, but at the heart of his first steps, another perspective fascinates me, and that's the process he's gone through to get to this point. It's strange to imagine that we've all been through his first steps. With such slow movements and a fragile and vulnerable body, we gradually built up our motor skills. Step by step, we crawled backwards, crawled forwards, we got down on all fours, we stood up with supports, skirting ledges, letting go of one hand, then the other, and after attempts and falls, we ended up, step by step, moving forward without anyone being able to teach us, or artificially accelerate our pace. We have to believe in the process, believe that despite the falls, the bumps, and the shaky progress, the walk will eventually be stable; it will even end up being so obvious, so easy, so fluid, that we will forget everything that preceded it. Of all the lessons my son teaches me, this is one of the most powerful, and it also applies to adulthood as we navigate our lives. How often do we doubt our decisions? How often do we have the feeling that we'll never make it? How often does discouragement intrude on our waking hours? Perhaps this is a reminder to trust ourselves. If what we do is consistent, then our movements will take us somewhere.

"A journey without motives. It soon proves that it is self-sufficient" - Nicolas Bouvier.

I wish you the patience you need to believe in your steps.

Marie Robert is an author and philosophy teacher. As the head of Montessori schools, she created @philosophyissexy to share her philosophical reflections daily.

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