Wednesday, October 18, 2023
You’ve already been there, you’ve just forgotten. You’ve been too busy chasing dreams, wearing yourself out; but when you were a little child, you had it! Toddlers and preschoolers have effervescence, an inner spark of aliveness, a wicked sense of humor, and faces that light up at every corner. In adolescents and in young adults, fear begins to bubble up, replacing that trusting effervescence with illusion. The inner muck begins to show, even though the outside is wrinkle free and radiant. In middle-age, the outer catches up to that inner stink, and it’s all “downhill.”
The carefree nature of toddlerhood can sometimes return. The elderly sometimes reconnect to this sense of aliveness, or they continue towards curmudgeon-hood! It depends upon when they’ve had enough of being an “adult,” a perception of serious responsibility and control. Who do you think you are? You’re not the parent of the universe, but a child of it.
What’s it like to be a child? You’re OK with not knowing. You express yourself. All you need is a friend, a stick, and some mud, and you can make anything happen with just your imagination. You can get messy, spin around, do funny things with your body, and laugh at it all. The world is weird. Be in awe, be carefree, and be curious about the wonderment of life. Young adults turn their backs on being carefree, fooling themselves into caring too much. Being a child is “silly.” But equally so is being obsessed, overworked, and stressed. Adulthood is about carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, defending your position, and working incessantly for no good reason. Children are acutely alive because they know they’re not in charge. Neither are the adults – they just think they are. Why not just play? There is nothing serious about it, not even death itself.