A kid put his two hands on the railings on either side of the steps leading to the patio and pushed himself up with enough strength to lift his feet off the ground and dangle his legs back n forth.
“I’m flying!!” he said to his mom standing a few feet away.
“No, you’re not flying. You’re hovering.” She quickly replied. You could see the disappointment in the boy’s face. It only took 3 words for him to turn from happy and excited, to disillusioned and sad.
Why did she do that? The kid is barely 8 years old. Is it really that hard to let the boy live in his imagination? She wouldn’t need to say much. She wouldn’t even need to lie, if that was her reasoning behind shattering her son’s super-hero moment. A simple “Wow!” or “Yeay!” or even a smile would have been enough for the boy to continue flying.
Why do we try to teach “reality” to children so quickly? Why grow up as soon as possible and face the world with its rules and laws and realities... Every day I come across examples of people not allowing themselves (or others) to live their surreal moments. For so many generations now, people have been getting brain-washed with the importance of being proper, serious, acting maturely and making sure they present themselves as a good fit for society. Why not let our inner child free to explore the bizarre corners of our mind? Why not express ourselves in the way that our heart wishes, instead of choosing the way that people around us consider appropriate? It’s always about “What will the neighbors think?”, or behaving according to our age. And for what? For not being judged based on those actions by those who, deep inside, which they could do the same thing? Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass.
If others choose to judge you and profile you based on the moments you decide to act like a 6 legged, 2 headed creature in the street, or the times you wear a bright red speedo over your torn jeans, or when you are holding on from a railing and pretending to be flying, then those individuals should never be given the privilege of being part of your social circle. They do not let you explore your full potential and that is much less than what you deserve.
So go live your moment. Be the weirdo you truly want to be! Pick up your air guitar and scream at the top of your lungs right into the world’s ear.
And kid, when you come back down, please bring me a small piece of a cloud. I’ll be the one in a tutu with orange face paint on, walking into a conference.
M.
No comments:
Post a Comment