At the age of 9 we look around for the first time and wish…no scratch that we PRAY we could hurry the growing process and become adults with all the ‘advantages.’ We admire our elderly siblings and fantasise that we too could go out with our friends, have a boyfriend/girlfriend. Little girls dream of wearing makeup when gawping at the Loreal adverts because they too want to ‘be worth it.’ Even the fellas plead that their parents would stop fussing over them in public, with the excuse ‘Don’t you think I’m a little too old for that Mom? I’m not a kid anymore!’ But fast forward into the future and that little hopeful kid ends up being the adult he/she always dreamed of…only its not at all what it seems. They learn the heartbreaking truth of ‘reality’ & suddenly the thought of going back to being 9 years old is so appealing, so overwhelming, it physically hurts. Back then the hardest decision we had to make was to choose which colour crayon we should use. The bottomline? That we waste so much of our childhood idealising the false smiling life of a grown up, we instantly lose our innocence without knowing. Its only later we realise that our innocence is the most precious treasure that gives birth to our future self.
I know if I had the chance to treasure my innocence then I would hold onto it like a life jacket. I yearn for those times where I would watch endless hours of Anastacia or half an hour of Bernard and the Stopwatch & not to forget the legendary Brum! Too quickly we grow up & learn the sad truth of the real world and that is that it is a complete and utter falsity. Poverty, wealth, death, heartbreak, hate, racism, power, war, sickness, status…thats just a mere list of things us humans have suffered in history & will remain forever until it becomes the death of us.
Call me pessimistic but I truly hope this message wakes you up; the world out there turns a blind eye against all the horrors, worse, it even promotes it! Truth be told If I had a choice between being that 9 year old girl admiring Britney Spears and cry over a stupid fight with my best friend or wasting away in this deceptive state of impasse- well I know which road I would take.
“And that’s what innocence is. It’s simple and trusting like a child, not judgmental and committed to one narrow point of view. If you are locked into a pattern of thinking and responding, your creativity gets blocked. You miss the freshness and magic of the moment. Learn to be innocent again, and that freshness never fades.”
– Michael Jackson
