With age comes intellect…or so they say. But is it truly wisdom we achieve as the years roll by or simply a narrowing of perception achieved as we grow older? As we become fully aware of reality it closes in, eliminating a vast array of possibility. Shaping our view of the world around us to what is and what is not. A realization that not all things are possible and the impossible is just that­—impossible.

Things were different when we were kids. Reality had no boundaries as we sat in our Underoos, munching on a bowl of Lucky Charms (with only four different marshmallow shapes) and watching Saturday morning cartoons. Ah, happier times!

We never viewed the magic picture box as pre-recorded entertainment. It was a window into the world, showing events as they happened in real time. Somewhere… in the Arizona desert, there were endless cliff-falls, precariously placed boulders and abandoned ACME product crates. If you listen closely you can still hear the cry of a fast wild bird and desperate whine of a starving coyote. We watched that s*** jacked-up on a sugar high, with all the believable intensity of a National Geographic Special. Things haven’t changed in generations.

Every evening the grandson informs me that it’s morning on the other side of the world and that Jackie Chan is having breakfast and getting ready to fight… all day – (fighting all day? I wonder what HE has for breakfast). Now, though this observation is grounded in reality, he has expressed a few which are not. Most memorable was his inquiry of Transformers being “real.” However it wasn’t so much the question that made it an impressionable moment but rather the answer he received: “Of course they are…there’s one in the house right now!”

Ironically, years before I had acquired an Autobot decal during a promotional movie event. It was placed on the door of the freezer compartment of the 70’s era fridge that still resides in our garage. “Yeap, that’s…umm…Freezer-burn, he was sent here by Optimus Prime to watch over us if the Decepticons attack.” I don’t think he really believed it (though he was wary and watchful of that refrigerator for a month or so after). However, he did express comfort in the belief that there were greater forces at work. That should things get too bad for grownups to handle someone or “something” would come to save us. It has to, because even in a child’s mind there has to be balance in the universe. This same mentality is visible in numerous books, films and folklore and the concept is not exclusively reserved for children as it is embraced by adults as well….whether we admit it or know it or not.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of our primordial minds there is a stray thought, a fleeting feeling, a paranoid tick that out there… somewhere… there is something out to get us. This logic is most apparent in the basic basis of all religions, but also applies to most fear based human logic. Fear of the unknown makes us create a known fear and then fabricate a counter balance. Why? Because there has to be balance…there just has to be! Because otherwise it’s not fair! Somebody has to be in charge of us stupid little people. They have to be bigger and badder (or gooder, because neither is actually a word) than anything else out there. So they can protect and save us from something not quite as big and bad (or good?) as they are.

Look, nobody knows how many d***ed marshmallows there are anymore and Saturday morning cartoons are long gone. Yes, there probably is balance in the universe but keep in mind we are a very teeny, tiny, small part of that universe, so things most likely won’t always tip in our favor. Maybe there are giant robots that have our backs… maybe not. So maybe we should learn to take care of ourselves…just in case the fridge isn’t working.

I welcome almost all questions and comments via FOCUS, or E-mail me at [email protected].

Hope to hear from ya until then try and stay focused. See ya.