Eyes wide shut

Lighthearted laughter

Untainted, unaffected

Unseeing and not listening

Eyes wide shut

The pleasant sounds around

Unknown to the unpleasant

Unpleasant sounds abound, unknown to the pleasant

Ears wide shut

Happiness surrounds, pleasure abounds

Laughter unbounded

The world dumbfounded

Mind wide shut

Experience is usually considered a good thing. Experience exhumes respect, it is a symbol of wisdom and representative of reliability of opinion. But I wonder. While reading something today, the following thought was planted in my head – untainted by experience, the lighthearted hope and feeling, is one that is unique to only childhood. 

Childhood was when most lucky individuals are the happiest – that hope, that ability to dream and that belief that those dreams can and will come true –  all of it brings unique peace. It brings a sense of excitement about the future.  Those lighthearted steps, skipping to school, skipping home from school, swinging you bag, swaying in abandon – behavior that is rarely exhibited by adults.  Perhaps because experience makes us realize that things often can and do go wrong. Experiences shows us that there are pitfalls across each road we choose to tread on. And that no matter how hard you try, some amount of disappointment is inevitable.

Childlike abandon in adults is rare – but it is not absent. There are those few individuals you meet who have a unique energy about them - peace and a sense of happiness and belonging and the belief that their future will be fine. It makes me wonder – I know that these individuals are not naïve enough to have childlike abandon. Then what makes them tick in such a unique way? I believe it is the belief and the experience that no matter how many pitfalls and how much disappointment is coming their way, that feeling will all pass. And in the end, that individual knows that brushing off, getting up and moving on – none of that is really an option. Not trying – that is not an option either, because that is akin to choosing regret.

Perhaps, eyes wide shut means that your vision and senses are open only to what you know to be your own reality and within your own abilities. Beyond that, a blissful lack of awareness is the choice towards happiness and a good night’s sleep.

Hum of the day

I love children and I often crave for the feeling that childhood used to bring. I also hope that I will someday have the faith in myself to develop that ability to laugh freely, dream big and have the faith to know that those dreams are in my own hands. For now, I am working towards ensuring that I do not regret at least trying – if I brush off a couple of times, I’ll learn to jump the pitfalls and to climb out when I fall in. Practice may not make perfect but it will make the journey more pleasant.