Children Inside--A Paragraph a Day

The most sophisticated people I know--inside they are all children.   -Jim Henson


It always astonishes me to see just how much we tend to value the things of adulthood and just how little we tend to value the things of childhood.  In my mind and in my heart, the things of childhood seem to be much more authentic, much more kind, much more interested in the world, much more human.  As adults we start to judge and to demand and to expect.  As children, we tend to wonder, to appreciate, to love, to hope.  We allow our minds to fly as we give ourselves wings to think of things that aren't necessarily important to anyone else, while as adults we think in the ways we're "supposed" to think, and we allow our perspectives to be overwhelmed by the demands of society.  While being a child isn't necessarily something that we all want to do, I do find it a shame that we for some reason reject out of hand all the things of childhood when so many of those things could make for a very happy adulthood if we could only hold on to them.  I love feeling a sense of wonder when the snow is falling, and I love looking at a new person with no judgment at all--just the simple acceptance of another human being who is in my life.  We can all be children inside if we don't simply reject the things of childhood, and if we allow them to be an important part of who we are--and if we do so, our lives will be richer and more fulfilling.