So this past week a friend showed me a very cute movie called The Little Prince. The 2015 animated fantasy drama is a modern retelling of a French novella of the same name first published in 1943.
In the movie a young girl spends her summer vacation preparing for her first day at her new school, a strict academy which will prepare her for her future. Her mother has her summer completely scheduled down to every last minute so that nothing is left unstudied or unprepared for. That schedule falls apart however when she starts spending time with her odd next door neighbor known as the aviator. As the days go on he tells her the story of The Little Prince with a series of drawings he has made. I won't spoil anymore, but the baseline of this story is that even though we all have to grow up, that doesn't mean we have to forget the wonders of being a child.
I have to tell you, this idea is bouncing around in my head so fast I can't keep track of it and so many thoughts are coming up because of it. I am in my last semester of my senior year at my university. I am currently taking a class that's teaching me how to make a portfolio of my best work and how to write my resume. I'm finally realizing that this is it. After I leave here I have to put out applications, get a job, get married, pay rent for an apartment, and deal with people constantly who most likely will not share many of my own views. I'm going to have to grow up. And I'm not ready. I'm in school to draw for a living for goodness sake! I'm afraid of the dark and what lurks outside at night, I still love stuffed animals and in fact looked up the price of plushies from the movie right after we finished watching it. I love watching cartoons and playing video games, and I love nonsense and fantasy stories. I love imagining the characters and environments and watching them in my mind as I read the most.
The fact is, most of the adult world is more rational, more logical, more organized, wastes less time on what they would consider frivolous things, and are much less nonsensical. It's boring. It's the reason I want to work in a business where I can create, where I can make things that don't have to make sense simply because they're fun! I don't think everyone should have to fit into these cookie cutter cubicles for the rest of their lives. And yet so many people are satisfied with going through the motions and simply breezing through every day, and are happy with nothing new or interesting happening to them. They are happy with their schedule. And every day they forget a little more of what it felt like to be a child. Their imagination dwindles. They get so focused on facts that they forget about fun.
And I worry sometimes...will this become me? I truly hope that someday, even after I have kids, I'm still able to find joy in life, to find beauty in silliness, that I'll be able to laugh at stupid puns for no other reason than that they are in fact stupid and make no sense. Don't let people mold you into their idea of the proper adult. And don't ever forget the things you loved as a kid. They will help you become something amazing.
