Did you ever dream and wonder as a child? Did it ever occur to you to ask questions that maybe no one had the answer to? Did you ask it anyway?
Did you ever stop and just observe what was around you? The wind blowing through the leaves under your feet. Insects buzzing around your ear. Cars swiftly moving in front of you. The ticking of your internal clock; minutes turning into hours and hours turning into days.
Maybe it never occurred to you to ask questions. Maybe it was enough for you being able to just dream and wonder.
As children, we are more prone to wonder than as adults. Maybe it’s the impulsive persona we take on that forces us to actively look for the answer to something. This persona doesn’t allow us to be still. At least not for too long anyway. As adults, our internal clock begins to tick faster and faster. Like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, we become anxious to do something or be someone before it’s too late.
Even if that something or someone isn’t us.
When do we stop dreaming? When do we stop wondering? When did it become an anomaly to dream and wonder anymore?
Maybe it never was.
Maybe as children, we only think it’s okay to dream and wonder for the moment. Then the second we become of age where we can take the world as we know it for what it is, that mirage disappears.
As adults, we are told to move forward and live with no regret. Sounds rather child-like, doesn’t it? Live in the present and take everything in. Maybe we never really grow up. Maybe we just exist like Peter Pan. Memories made. Moving swiftly past us along the cars. We spend the rest of our adult lives chasing the wonder we had as children. Just to relive it one more time.
Maybe that’s why they are called the “Wonder Years.” Maybe that’s why you must go to your high school reunion. It’s considered an anomaly not to want to go, right? Just like it’s an anomaly to want to have a job you like and are passionate about, rather than a job that pays well. Just like it’s an anomaly to not want to be in a relationship, rather than be in one and be tremendously unhappy. Just like it’s an anomaly to not want to be out in a public setting, rather than being in the comfort of your own home enjoying your own company. Just like it’s an anomaly to not want to grow up and be an adult, where these things define the very experience, rather than stay a child and actively dream and wonder about your life.
As we progress form childhood, our bodies grow. Our hair grows. Our mind grows. Our bank accounts grow. Our friends and family grows. But with that growth comes shrinkage. The reason to dream diminishes. Not the ability but the reason. The trend to dream diminishes. We become obsessed with conquering reality that we sacrifice our fantasy in the process. We sacrifice what makes us human.
Did you ever dream and wonder as a child? Do you still dream and wonder?
