A "Leap" in Understanding
I've observed my young child in the very process of making a significant leap in his understanding of the world. When he was about ten months old, he had been crawling well for weeks; that is, he had the physical ability to crawl wherever he might wish in the house. However, he only crawled around in the room he happened to be put down in. I found this puzzling, as my own tendency would be to automatically use any new ability to explore beyond.
One day, our housemate, whom Taylor loved dearly and had not seen for a while, called to him from the next room. I happened to be looking at his face. He turned his head towards her voice, then it was as if an electric current passed through his body. He straightened as he turned his head back forward. In the space of what must have been only a few seconds, he appeared to actually physically change, as he made a new profound cognitive connection. I thought of all the phrases we use for describing this: lights going on, bells ringing. It was all this and more, an electrical experience that so altered his thinking as to appear to alter his physical person. After a few seconds, he turned and crawled quickly from the room, and from that hour forward had a tremendous curiosity about "elsewhere" that appeared to motivate most of his movement. All our lives changed dramatically because of that one, marvelous moment of realization. Witnessing this event reminded me that making leaps in our understanding is a source of great wonder and pleasure to humans, not only for the human who experiences it first hand, but for all the humans around them.
Christine Marie
Haines, Alaska, USA