Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Babies

In my book about authenticity, my bookmark is a picture of my god baby screaming at the top of her lungs. There is something entirely refreshing about this photo (aside from my desire to pluck her up and hug on her that is).

With a baby, you will always know when they are upset. They'll be screaming. Crying. Making a fuss until their need is met.

You'll know when they are excited, happy, or passing gas. They'll be smiling. Giggling. Squirming with glee.

If they are curious, they'll reach out and touch. When they can, they'll ask questions. "Whassat?" is one of my favorites.

There is nothing that is not absolutely congruent about what babies are feeling and what they do.

As adults, we've squelched that. Been taught not to cry or be too overjoyed about anything. Hold back curiosity. Etc and so on.

What would happen if we broke down in tears when we spilled a glass of juice or we were hungry? Letting ourselves feel whatever was passing through our mind at the time instead of "steeling" ourselves against our emotions. And it might teach the next generation that it is okay to feel things. Okay to feel sad, happy, mad, glad. Okay to cry and shout for joy.

What kind of world might that be?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

so true! i always joke that i wish we could throw tantrums occasionally. sometimes when i'm waiting to get something fixed or can't get someone to do what they're supposed to do: y'know a good tantrum would fix that! haha