Through the eyes of a child

There is a wonderful book by a Norwegian author name Jostein Gaarder called Sophie's World. It's an amazing book about the history of Western Philosophy.  The book discusses everything from Pre-Socratic philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, up through the Roman philosophers,  the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, The Enlightment,  Marx, Darwin, and so forth up to the Big Bang.   In the beginning of the book there is a passage that talks about Children being the best philosophers because everything is so new to them.  They haven't lost that sense of wonder.  They are able to accept everything without reservation because they have no experience with it, which is why they probably want to get into everything.  They want to taste, smell, see, touch, hear, do, experience everything.  It goes on to say that as we get older we learn through our experiences that the world is just so and that is that.  We quietly learn to accept things as is and we forget to ask ourselves, "WHAT IF?"  Society teaches that maintaining that sense of wonder is wrong, and we shouldn't question things.

Plato once described life as though we were prisoners in a cave, looking at shadows play and dance across the wall of the cave.  We were told that the Shadows were our reality.  And after so much time people begin to just accept the Shadows as our reality.   Where did the sense of  wonder go?   Have you ever thought about what causes the Shadows on the wall that we are constantly told are our Reality?  

I have been talking with psychologist since the beginning of the year, and working to change my self for the better.  I have been working to overcome a long time bout of depression, and deal with some of the issues that have been plaguing me for a while.   Back in February I had gotten fired from a job working in a Neurology office.  It was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Working there was depressing the hell out of me more than I already was.  I was inactive, sitting at a front desk, answering a constant stream of phone calls, emails, patients, prior authorizations.  The ladies in the office I found to be incredibly hard to stomach.  Either they were sickeningly sweet and chirpy (I never trust anyone that perpetually cheerful.  It is an indication that they are false as press on nails.) or they were extremely cliquish.  I would always be on the outside looking in.

I am not one to sit still for hours at a time.  I like to be up and moving around, doing stuff, accomplishing a goal.  

I went to work at a local gardening center in March.  When I started I weighed 210 lbs.  I have since lost 20 lbs and managed to keep it off!  I was up and moving around, lifting and carrying things and working with my hands again.  

As time has progressed, I have found myself re-awakening that sense of wonder that children inherently have.  I found myself doing things over the summer that I have not done in years that I had so enjoyed while growing up.  I was riding my bycicle around the Airport and thinking about how much I enjoyed riding, and why wasn't I riding more often? and how much I had enjoyed fishing the other week, and that it had been years since I had gone fishing.  Just sitting out casting a line out and enjoying the moment.  And I had three thoughts.  The first was that I haven't been doing these things that I had so loved in the past because I was depressed.  The second thought was that I could have been doing these things all along if I really wanted to.  The third thought was the doozy.  I realized that depression is not malady that makes you sad.  Depression is a sickness that causes you to forget the things that have brought you joy.   It was one of those pivotal moments that makes one stop what they are doing and go, "OOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!" and the lightbulbs start flashing and you are able to see a clearer picture than before.

In Tarot card reading, the first card of the Major Arcana is The Fool. When this card turns up, it indicates that you are about to start on a wonderful journey.  It shows a boy walking about without a care to the world, exhilarating in all the wonder and abstract of this life. While talking with my psychologist tonight,  it was pointed out to me that I have a lot of interests because I have choose to see the abstract. I am now once again starting to see the world through the eyes of a child and see the world for all of the wonder and joy it holds.   I want to see what is causing the Shadows on the wall of the cave.

Never cease being The Fool.  Never stop doing what you love because it is the "proper, mature, adult thing to do."  Never stop wanting to be Dorothy pulling back the curtain to see what the Wizard really is.  While being an adult is all well and good (we do have basic needs that should be met and sometimes yes adulting is necessary after all) we should never stop seeing the world through the eyes of a child.  Don't become old and set in your ways and accept the Shadows as your Reality, otherwise you will always be a prisoner in a cave.