Amnesia, Oh I miss thee!
As a child I used to run and climb trees carefree of whether I would fall down or hurt myself. I would create art or write without much hinderance or doubt of whether I would earn critique from someone else. I would befriend anyone without the fear of the stranger being someone who could harm me. Many adults do still remember the days when they would be allowed to play in the streets, or play in the playgrounds that were clearly not childproof by todays standards. I did many things as a growing child that for some reason as a parent I instinctively would not allow my child to do today. Why? Fear. Somewhere along the way as I “grew up”, and I use that term loosely, I may have fallen in the playground or seen someone get hurt, or be indoctrinated by the media that we need to lead more protected and safer lives, and so I want the same safety for my child. Yet clearly missing the fact the neither my child is any different from any child past or present and the concept of falling, getting hurt and getting up and then walking away are part and parcel of human psyche evolution.
Granted that streets are busier today with more traffic so playing around on streets are more challenging, and perhaps the lessons of the past teach us to be more cautious for future, yet it is the carefree nature to explore, learn and advance without the feelings of being ridiculed, hindered or shamed that prevent us from doing so. Fear makes us forget the easier, simpler and more energetic times. We have come under the spell of amnesia and been gripped with fear on all levels of heart, mind and consciousness. Moreover unknowingly so mesmerized that we go about our day like as if we have control over everything without any awareness of this deeply unconsciously seeded problem. With the example of the playground, we may intellectually know that there is nothing to fear, yet through some encounter a hook of fear has been attached to our minds and so we perpetuate the same to an unsuspecting generation of children who are ready and waiting to learn and explore and make mistakes yet, we shorten their experiences by our fearful ideas. Yet the irony is that we already had that experience and did encounter the joy and the dangers of the experience.
We further lose out as through our amnestic fog we alienate OurSelves when we were more awake and alert as innocent children learning to explore strange new worlds each day all those years ago. It is time we remember who we were, who we Are and therefore who we can become. Tapping into the carefree creative unapologetic energies of our freer selves we move forward without compromise, and not held back by fearful ropes of consequence that may or may not have falsely been binding us. Caution is a state of the intellect, yet fear is the state of the mind. One is helpful, the other is not. When I have been told that fear helps us drive and succeed, I would suggest that perhaps that it is the cautionary tale of failure that makes us succeed and lunge forward, yet fear only serves to keep us stuck in the mud of mediocrity.
Fear? Sorry I don’t remember you.
