What do sex, faith and race all have in common? Your perception of each relies on your perspective.

I LOVE this! Not only because it was a question posed by a Senior high school boy for whom I hold high regard, but because his answer gave me much to think about while standing in an open field, holding a piece of painted metal in the hot morning sun. Rather than melt, I was cooled by the “aha” of how much I value perception, perspective and the heartfelt knowing of who stands for me, and for whom I stand.

Last week, at 9pm, an email from a mom I had known since my daughter’s days at her K-8 school came in. Help! Her son had bumped up against the deadline of his Senior Project and he needed several pairs of hands the next day to help finish it out. Without asking why or for what, I immediately responded Yes. To me, it wasn’t about the details, but the act of showing up for a friend and simply doing what was needed – something I personally place a high value on.

The next morning, with curiosity and delight, we Moms found ourselves in a large wet grassy field in the rolling and beautiful back valley of a local school, moving as directed – to the right, to the left, a little higher and a little lower. Turns out the project, built on learnings from The Beautiful Project, was the brainchild of this young man we had watched grow from a gangly, bright little middle school boy into a thoughtful, smart, handsome and quirky young man. I loved his project – he wrote poems and short stories about perception and perspective when one looks at sex, faith and race and then physically cut metal pieces, hand painted them and used his talent for math and science to parcel each piece individually, so that when standing at a distance, different pieces made up the words Sex, Faith and Race. One big giant metaphor.

As I stood there and laughed, I also stood there and wept.

I wept for his creative brilliance. I wept for the support and sincere good cheer this group of moms gave to each other and to these kids over the last 12 years (and for the amazing and loving friends and family who showed up for my daughter over the last few weeks to celebrate her high school graduation). I wept for the friend who taught our children creative applications to intellectual challenges, and was no longer living to see us all standing in the field. I wept for the end of this era. I wept for the future this young man had in front of him, and how special it was that he would leave his legacy in the grassy fields of his high school.

Touched to my core, I raised my metal piece high, and low, and side to side. And when I was done, I left with my own new perspective. Amazing what our kids can teach us.

Who do you MindFULLY stand for and who stands for you? Let us know!