Drink to the girls that rejected you viciously. Drink to the ‘macho’ guys that beat you up in school. Drink to the chains of routines, errands, and appointments. Drink to your ambition, drink to your melancholy, drink to your loneliness. Drink to your heart’s content and pass the cup around. Your mind has now absorbed the blessed waters of the Fountain of Youth. You are now the light of the world! Your life is now young, fruitful, fun, easy, simple, and your body will reflect it as well.
Wow, I am stunned. I've had a vague understanding of the link between childhood and happiness/enlightenment but I have never seen it put so well. I was listening to "Tripping Billies" as I read this post, and as I read the above quote I realized that I was hearing the phrase "eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die" over and over. Eerily appropriate...
I love this post, but am troubled by your anti-intellectualism.
I have always been "intellectual," analytical and interested in theories and philosophy and such. I don't know if I can change that, and I don't really think I want to. However, I also understand that life is about more than just ideas and philosophy; it's something that must be experienced and embraced. One could say that ignorance is bliss and be somewhat correct, but I don't want to settle for ignorance.
I think I can be an intellectual person while at the same time having a real appreciation for and love of the experience of just living life. A child (usually) has a carefree love of life but lacks the ability to think intellectually and understand his world. An intellectual can think deeply about the nature of life but has usually forgotten how to enjoy it. I think the ideal state would be to have both aspects; joy and love of life, while at the same time understanding of it. To me, this sounds like wisdom/enlightenment.
I agree that the buildup of ideas and philosophies and teachings leads to the loss of childhood freedom as the child grows, but I think this is because they are being taught the wrong things, not that all philosophies are "bad." A child's natural tendencies to be carefree and do what feels right to them are supressed as they are taught to how to be "mature." They are NOT taught how to be happy. They are NOT taught to be social. They are NOT taught sexuality. They are NOT taught to be carefree. They are NOT taught to marvel at the wonder and beauty of their world.
They shouldn't need to be, because this is their natural state. The problem is, they ARE taught to be afraid. They ARE taught to not talk to strangers. They ARE taught that boys and girls are equal, and their sexuality is suppressed. They ARE taught to worry about petty material things. They ARE discouraged from having fun ("horseplay") because it's "immature." They ARE exposed constantly to negativity, anger, and cynicism from bitter adults, and the world gradually becomes less and less wondrous and beautiful. They ARE taught to be followers, to do what they're told rather than making their own choices, to worry about what others think rather than being who they want to be. Respect for others is often so overemphasized that self respect is overrun and you're left with the "nice guy." I think these are the reasons why sexuality is lost, not because the child becomes intellectual. It's true that the intellectual are often antisocial and vice-versa, but just because they are related doesn't mean they are interdependent.
In the High School forum, there is a lot of talk about a "revolution," a sort of rebirth of the Renaissance Man. These men led amazing lives, and intellectuality didn't hold them back. They were geniuses, artists, they had passion, embraced life, and were certainly not ruined by philosophy. I think the wonder of life we have as a child is realized through our search for understanding; and finding understanding of the how and why of things doesn't necessarily remove the wonder of them, and can in fact enhance it.