Thursday, May 22, 2008

That child I once was

It's like the part of me that was a child fades in and out sometimes right where I am. But sometimes you just can't go back.

Indiana Jones was just one. They seem to be remaking and resurrecting everything. Rocky, Rambo and countless other things. Television shows. They're bringing them all back.

Many of us take pride in not growing up. I love video games, cartoons, movies. They bring out the child in us. So I guess coupling that with the nostalgia of things that actually were around when we were kids makes sense.

I remember a documentary years ago on dogs and how they were domesticated, comparing them to wolves and wild dogs. After a lot of research and study, they came to the conclusion that dogs are domesticated by keeping them in a constant state of youth. In a way, their development is stunted - they are puppies all their lives. They don't have to grow up. They are provided for, are told what to do and where to go, just as puppies are by their mother. They are kept safe. Sounds kind of nice but it means they are completely under our control - we control them by keeping them young.

So I'm wondering - by not growing up, by constantly feeding the child in us, are we being domesticated? Controlled?

We're all just puppies and we're getting younger by the day.

I want to be a wolf.

1 comment:

Andy Latham said...

We are all domesticated whether we let our inner child out or not. If you stuck a human in the 'wild', he or she wouldn't last long unless they knew what they were doing. Besides, would you really want to take away the relative safety that society gives us?

You can use your inner child to see things from a more innocent and naive perspective. A child views things with such interest that adults just don't always have.

I'm sure that our wild ancestors didn't think about that child within, but then maybe that was why they lived in caves. Only with curiosity does development come, and how better to achieve that than to see things through the eyes of a child.

I would think that the ideal would be to be a grown-up when required, whilst retaining the ability to tap into a youthful side.