Growing Up

Growing Up

"how many inner umbilical cords connecting me with the depths and heights of all that is...were
severed and knotted in me in the course of my
education?"
    ___ John Moriarty, Turtle Was Gone a Long Time.

     The freedom we experienced in the country of childhood is very special. Most deep childhood bonds are never severed entirely, only stretched so that they can help us through our adult years with more flexibility. These bonds are those of wonder, play, and simplicity. The jaundiced perceptions of adulthood allow little room for wonder: the ability to be deeply moved and reconnected with the wider world. When wonder leaves us, our childhood senses are finally fogged up and we no longer see the world as part of ourselves. A renewed sense of wonder awakens our ability to be responsible as adults and helps us bequeath an unspoiled world to our own children.
     The child's ability to play, to be completely involved in the game, can be ours if we make love with life enthusiastically. Childhood simplicity gives way to adult sophistication, which seeks how to please others and is self-aware in a way that childhood is not. The ability to retain a measure of simplicity enables us to perceive things without worrying about other people's opinions, beliefs and ideas, to be guided by the innocence in our soul.

"In which areas of your life do you feel that you are still 'growing up'?  What facets of your childhood wisdom have you retained?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]