baby steps

"Fear of making mistakes can itself become a huge mistake, one that prevents you from living, for life is risky and anything less is already loss." -Rebecca Solnit

The more I know, the more I know I don't. It's always that way, but I'm reminded more often these days as I struggle to put together this puzzle...Portuguese. Ch and Sh and Dz and Oo and Ow and nasal sounds I can't make unless I've got ocean water up my sinuses. Sounds like something I've heard before, sounds like a song, sounds like nothing, are they really saying something? Who am I when I can't say who I am? Slower, please. I'm...learning. "Don't be afraid to make mistakes" is the advice I give my English learners on the first day of class. "Don't be afraid to make mistakes" I tell myself now. We have to let ourselves attempt new ways of being and seeing the world; we have to make mistakes. We have to learn somehow.

Cael is the incredible edible one year old little boy I'm fortunate to live with. He's also my learning buddy. He's learning English, Portuguese and baby sign language right now. I'm only learning one new language. I think we both understand a lot more than we can speak. Together we're taking baby steps...