Not a Dull Boy
忙里偷闲 [Sold]

“Eternal joy lives in childhood wonder.
童心如初，喜乐无穷。”

oil on canvas
51x61cm

The bell rang. With a sigh of relief, I picked up my bag and ran out of class, followed by my gaggle of giggling friends. Instead of heading home from school to do our homework, we went straight to our favourite hangout – the great banyan tree just beside the track.

There, in its leafy shade, one of us took out our favourite game – five stones. It had been a craze in our school the past few weeks.

Ever since my dad had brought back a brand new set for me, neatly sewn with pink polka-dotted cloth and filled with mung beans, we had been obsessed. He told me how, in his day, they used pebbles or dried seeds picked off the ground, wrapped in bits of cloth if they were lucky. Sometimes, even real rice grains tied into scraps of fabric.

That day, under the banyan tree, we laughed and squealed and cheered each other on, tossing and catching, picking and dropping. In those moments, there was no rush, no noise, no homework pressing down on us. Just the sound of cloth landing softly on the pavement, and the rhythm of breath between each throw.

Now, years later, I see us again – in the shade, laughing. We have all grown up – but in my mind, the game continues. The childlike joy, the clumsy first tries, the gentle competition, the laughter….

Play doesn’t need to be loud or exciting. Sometimes its soft, rhythmic. It’s how we  paused. It’s how we endured.

忙里偷闲，才有余温。

Childhood play was where we first learned wonder, imagination and connection. The simple games of youth remind us that joy doesn’t need to be bought, or perfect. There is a kind of healing power in childlike wonder: a reminder that even in busy lives, we carry with us the ability to pause, play and rediscover simplicity.