I’m standing at the sink, peering into the mirror as I draw the razor up my face, erasing a line of white shaving cream. My five-year-old daughter reaches around me to put her hand under the running faucet. She brings the handful of water up to the top of her head, then draws her hands out to the side, flattening the hair. She repeats this grooming gesture a few times.
“What are you up to?” I ask.
“I’m wetting my hair. That way it’s easier to wear.”
“Makes sense, I guess.” I go back to dumbly shaving.
“That’s a line, Daddy,” she says. “I’m wetting my hair/ So it’s easier to wear.”
“Okay.”
She skips out of the bathroom. “I’m wetting my hair/ So it’s easier to wear.”
She accelerates into an elliptical run. “Mommy! Mommy! Hear my line! I’m wetting my hair/ So it’s easier to wear!”
And there we have a complete example of how life becomes art. At the beginning is the mystery of inspiration. [Read more…]
