If I Were the Wind: Storytime for Your Inner Child

As part of our summer "Play it Forward" series, we're intentionally stepping away from our anxious, fear-driven world to embrace the more playful spirit of childhood. The concept is simple yet powerful: by adopting a more childlike perspective, we not only lift our own spirits but spread that lightness to everyone we encounter. It's contagious in the best possible way.

This episode features a delightful storytime reading of "If I Were the Wind" by Leslie Evans, transporting listeners back to those magical kindergarten carpet moments. The story explores how a mother's love would manifest in different forms—as wind drying tears, as a lock securing away fears, as a coat providing protection. What makes this particularly meaningful is how it mirrors the way divine love surrounds and protects us constantly. Just as the mother in the story promises to be present in countless forms, we're reminded that we're enveloped in love and protection even when we can't see it.

Let this episode inspire you to notice the tiny joys in your world and approach life with more wonder and playfulness. And don't forget to tune in next week for our guided visualization! How might your perspective—and our collective experience—shift if we all played it forward a little more?

To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com

Chapters

• 0:07 Welcome: Finding Joy in Little Things
• 0:50 Play it Forward Summer Series
• 2:27 Storytime: "If I Were the Wind"
• 5:45 Connecting Mother's Love to God's Love
• 6:24 Closing Thoughts and Next Week

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Welcome back to the Create Harmony podcast. So our focus here is the joy that is around us all the time. Sometimes that joy is just nestled in little things that we tend to overlook. It's the taste of that first sip of coffee in the morning, or the way the wind sounds when it rustles through the through the leaves on the trees outside. It's the way my puppy looks when she's running towards me in the yard. It's the laugh of your child or the smile of a friend. It's the softness of your bed when you lie down each night, or the smell of dinner cooking on the stove, and each of those things holds a tiny piece of joy. You've got a million other things in your own world just like that, and it only takes a moment to notice it. So this is episode 136. And we are continuing our summer series here that's called Play it Forward and the idea is that we're trying to really embrace and adopt the more playful spirit of childhood. We're trying to step away from this world that's very anxious and fear-oriented and conflict-based and, just quite frankly, scary sometimes, and we're stepping back towards our more childlike viewpoint and really trying to lift our spirits that way and hopefully, as you begin, to adopt a more playful spirit after listening to this podcast. You will spread that spirit to everybody that you come in contact with and you will play literally play it forward out into the world and this world will be lighter and more upbeat. So that's the theory behind it. The rhythm that we've taken on is that we do one week we do a guided visualization that has a nature theme and helps to calm and center your mind, and then the next week we do a story, and it is literally I've been saying this every single week we've been doing the stories. It's like when you were on the carpet and you were in kindergarten and you listened to story time and your teacher read aloud and then showed you the pictures. What it's not like is that you can't actually see the pictures because this is a podcast and it's only an audio. So you are having to use your imagination. This is how you're really trying to become more childlike. Use your imagination to envision what is happening in the book. As you are listening, I'm going to be reading aloud and you're going to hear me turning the pages and holding the book, but you are going to be on your end imagining all of how the story unfolds. So our book for today. We have a story for today, and it is called If I Were the Wind, by Leslie Evans, and it goes like this Mother asked the child, climbing up on her knee, if you could be anything, what would you be?

Speaker 1: 2:55

I'd be your mother, she said with a smile. The child smiled back and then thought for a while If you could do anything, what would you do? Oh, that's easy, my child, I'd take care of you. But what if a witch came along one day and that wicked old witch, she stole you away and changed you into the wind or a tree, or maybe a coat, or a boat or the sea? Mother, how would you take care of me? If I were the wind, I would dry all your tears. If I were a lock, I would lock up your fears. If I were a coat, I'd protect you from cold With pockets and zippers. Your treasures I'd hold.

Speaker 1: 3:58

If I were a book, I would tell you a tale. If I were a boat, then together we'd sail. If I were the sun, I would color your sky with crimson and scarlet to dazzle your eye. If I were the sea and my waves, you could play. If I were the sea and my waves you could play. If I were a path, I would show you the way. If I were a tree and my shade, you could lie Together. We'd watch as white clouds floated by.

Speaker 1: 4:27

If I were a box, all your toys I would keep. If I were a song, I would sing you to sleep. If I were a chair, I would rock you all day and on my soft cushion, your head, you could lay. If I were a fire for you, I'd burn bright. If I were the moon, I'd watch you all night.

Speaker 1: 4:49

If I were a quilt, I would wrap you up tight and take you to dreamland to play for the night. I'll love you forever, not just for a day, and there's no wicked witch to take me away. I won't be the wind or a boat or the sea. I won't be a box, nor the chair or a tree. So hush now, my child and I'll hold you tight and we'll go to dreamland to play for the night.

Speaker 1: 5:45

Thanks so much for joining us and hope you enjoyed that story. What I love about that book is that it reminds me of the way that I want to connect with god's love, that god's love is surrounding us and protecting us and guiding us always and forever all around us, and that image of the mother being the protection in the boat and the coat and the wind and all the things just reminds me of a viewpoint that we could take on, of how God is around us all the time, protecting and loving us, and it's just a different way to perceive God's love. So just take that with you throughout your day and play it forward, and hopefully you'll come back next week for our guided visualization. And until next time, peace, thank you.