Childhood is our marvelous, lavish treasure trove of memories.

Great reminder today from my all-time favorite poet, Rilke.

I revisited his letters, and realized the line I remembered so fondly was actually much longer.

“If your everyday life seems to lack material, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to summon up its riches, for there is no lack for him who creates and no poor, trivial place. And even if you were in a prison whose walls did not let any sound of the world outside reach your senses – would you not have your childhood still, this marvellous, lavish source, this treasure-house of memories? Turn your attention towards that.

― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

As a parent, I greet today with this extra insight: to safeguard and nurture such a childhood for my little one, and give her a treasure trove of memories that will make her everydays rich, marvelous and lavish well into her adult years.