Buttoning the front of a small navy-blue peacoat, pushing a wisp of curly brunette from big brown eyes, she looks up to the man beside her. “Daddy… where are we going?” she inquires. Fastening the clasps on his worn frock coat, he looks down. Then speaking with a gentle tone accompanied by a soft smile he says- “We’ll know when we get there, my love.”
Puzzled she reflects- “But how will we know when we get there?” Scratching an unshaven chin he replies- “I suppose we’ll figure it out along the way.” “Will it be a long way?” she inquires. “Long enough for us to find out.” he chuckles. “When will we get there?” she asks. He extends a hand and thoughtfully replies- “We’ll know once we’ve begun.” A small hand is placed in a large palm, and they do just that.
As children we question the adults in our life. Not to question them or their intentions, but out of honest curiosity. Preadolescent trust is encased in a thin shell of innocent childish wonder and nothing more.
As we grow, that shell thickens and becomes marred with the day to day of the world. Innocence is lost. And the only wonder is how we could have ever been so naïve in the first place.
It shouldn’t be this way. We should outgrow and shed these shells. Seeing how we will rise to become those it was set in place for in the first place. With the passing of an unlit torch.
Yes, it is inevitable the wonder will fade with time, age and knowledge. But the trust that is emoted toward us early on should seed and grow. As we and those around us become “the adult” shouldn’t we all be able to extend the ability to be unquestionably trusted to those who were once children also? Which, with a few exceptions, would be all of us, I suppose.
But as we excel in years, we find that as surely as there are coins placed under pillows and gifts beneath trees, adults lie. Or sometimes just don’t say. What is the long-term benefit of any or all of it? And to what end? What can possibly be accomplished by shielding and protecting or make believing to make happy? When some day it will all fade and become a cesspool of deceit to be passed on.
Not to say that encouraging joy or slow guided exposure to the darker sides of humanity is a bad thing. Children should be allowed to be children, and adults… all adults should try their damnedest to make it so. But what is the overall purpose? What is the goal we’re trying to reach? And why is it forgotten and destroyed as we put childish things away?
Maybe, it is with the passage of time, we realize we really don’t have any idea where we’re going. That we will probably never know when and if we ever got there. It takes even longer to grasp the concept that neither does anyone else. You can’t punk out and play follow-the-leader because there isn’t one.
Would we ever really know if we really even got there? If there wasn’t a bigger person, a “more adult” adult, to let us know we had arrived? Safely with all our fingers and toes still attached? Please keep your hands and legs inside of life at all times.
It’s a long way to travel with destination unknown. And seeing as how the journey lasts a lifetime, we lose sight of figuring it out along the way. Not that we ever could or would.
No, no, no! We are not searching, inquiring on, or speculating the ever elusive- “meaning of life.” Rather looking to define the purpose for which we all live it. The core reasoning behind everything we do. Why, with time, we turn into a**hole shadows of our former “childish” selves.
No, with a few exceptions, we can’t remain children forever. We all have to grow up sometime. But does it have to suck so much? Do people, in general, have to suck so much?
An anti-suck people campaign? Is that what we’re leading up to? If not, then where is all this going. Well, we’ll know when we get there because we figured it out along the way.
I welcome almost questions, comments via Focus, or E-mail me at [email protected]. Hope to hear from ya, until then try and stay focused! See ya.
