LISTEN TO THE CHILDREN
“And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” Matthew 21:16
Sitting in my office in an upstairs apartment with an open window and listening to the sound of children playing their creative, spontaneous games outside, took me back to my own childhood. In the eyes of an adult out of touch with their own inner child, it would have appeared that I too, as a child, roamed aimlessly about, without reason or purpose. But it was with a purposeful intention that I disappeared, going down to the river, or escaping to the sanctity of a nearby woods—in these places I had time to create a special, magical world that could free me from the harsh reality adults had provided. I had discovered, on my own, that the world could become my sanctuary of creativity, a wonderful place where I transformed into Bomba the Jungle boy or Tarzan, communicating with my animal friends, or become for a day, a daring explorer riding the treacherous currents of the Ohio River, just like Columbus or Tom Sawyer aboard a makeshift raft. One wonder’s how I survived in this magical world--perhaps it was something in the magic of believing in myself, that kept me safe.
For whatever it was, my self-discovered version of reality was a magical place where I ruled over my domain and could be anyone I chose, regardless of the fact that in it, I dwelled a virtual monarch in solitary isolation.
What was most fascinating about my hidden, internalized world, somehow it preserved and developed the adult inner child.
One might wonder how my skills as writer and mystic might have come about if they knew the outer world from which this inner world grew, because the truth remains: I didn’t have a nurturing home life or any loving communication with parents who cared enough to get acquainted with that lonely boy.
Maybe I simply loved myself enough to care for me.
Consider for a moment my early childhood environment. By all actual accounts, my healthy interactive growth from a loving world stopped emotionally at the age of two, when I was taken from my mother, grown ill with Parkinson’s disease, and a father who had degenerated into an irresponsible alcoholic. As a result, all eleven siblings and I were placed in homes. My twin brother and I were placed for adoption, but since no one seemed to want twins it was our misfortune to be taken in by abusive foster parents. That first home life was filled with horror and abuse. From that point we were passed around from one nightmare to another. Needless to say, to survive, my inner life grew with rapidity, but not--albeit--for entirely healthy reasons. In truth, it was my only way of receiving nourishment in a world that gave nothing but abuse.
I feel it was my own nourishment of self in an alienated reality that led to my avocation as a writer of children’s books. My inner life had created a refuge of individuality that preserved my identity in a lost, loveless childhood and built a platform from which I sent out a cry to parents to wake up and communicate with their children! Show your love by encouraging each unique discovery they make, each private special talent they reveal, in their own way, because in seemingly meaningless fantasy, elements of tomorrow’s healthy adult are birthing. I survived and learned these lessons the hard way, by creating and preserving my inner life--but think how it might have been if adults had cared enough to help me.
It still grates me to hear the harsh sounds of parents yelling and screaming at their children, pushing them away, or even worse, downward into negative places that might take years of therapy to overcome. The sad fact remains, many children may never get out of these places of neglect, emotional abuse and isolation, especially inner-city children who must grow up in a vicious, hard culture that often enlists them as objects of exploitation, rather than recognizing in them socially valuable people with self-worth. In this kind of insensitive culture, it is no wonder that many peer pressures lead to criminal behavior as an outlet for self-expression, succumbing to an outside world that is brutal and uncaring.
Parenting is a skill that must be developed and it starts in the lessons we learn as individuals in the environment of early childhood; or it doesn’t begin at all. It is a sanctuary; a place where we are first influenced with supportive values in individuality needed to develop a child’s healthy self-esteem. Without early positive influences, these tender beginnings of our personhood within can become stunted and as barren as the scarred souls of those who must exist in streets full of crime. It’s a scary world to envision and certainly a place that demands obedience to the brutality of the streets.
Clearly stated, we must develop a world of caring souls that nourish our most priceless contribution to society, the developing inner child. In such a world a child co-participates in an exciting, secure environment of mutual respect. Thus, the fear of being alienated or isolated never occurs.
I believe that a supportive culture will lead to an outstanding adult group participation. It will produce an ideal citadel of cooperation in which both the individual and society can subsist and work together harmoniously to develop the best qualities in all. The positive outcome of this cooperative respect between child and adult leads to a genetic evolution where the best traits flourish and evolve. Remember this: we are an amorphous community until we become focused upon integrative spiritually conscientious goals that preserve and recognize the uniqueness found in each individual.
Here are some interesting possibilities this kind of planning can uncover:
Researchers have discovered that it does not take intellectual maturity for many gifts to flourish, children are often born with innate talents. If this was not true, how could a child prodigy like Mozart be discovered, or a talented Indigo child like Akiane, who creates priceless art, or the discovery of the mathematical wisdom of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), and the insights of a Song You-geun, an eight-year-old Korean genius of science and math? Who knows, perhaps you might discover your child's gifts as a speaker or leader. But in a non-supportive environment of disrespect for individuality, unique talents will never be discovered and released but repressed, or even worse--crushed in the insensitive pressures evolved in a childless inner adult.
Such an ideal world will encourage and develop productive participation in a globally conscientious effort. The fact is we thrive specifically through interactive sharing of the holographic spirit of cooperation. In its reflective sanctuary we create a community of similar world-spirit co-participants. Our personal space becomes preserved in a healthy outer social space, in fact, our communities are a perfect reflection of how we see our selves and have learned the lesson of sharing and respecting individuality.
The biblical saying of, “Whatsoever a person thinketh in his heart so is he,” might be expanded to include, “…so also becomes the world.” Dr. Albert Einstein once wrote:
“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and of a foundation for inner security.” -- Albert Einstein, N.Y. Post, November 28, 1972.
As contributors to the World Spirit, we are participants in a growing and evolving global exchange, and thus, can share our special talents with the group process of collective development. One of the ways that I contribute is through portraying the individuality found in the perspectives of magical children. These fictionalized visions of children address unique talents and insights in a style many can appreciate and relate to as individuals.
In my book DOLPHINA'S WORLD & Other Stories, a trilogy of adventures for children and adults, I demonstrate this concept in each story. For instance, in the first tale, Dolphina, an island girl, discovers her special purpose as both teacher and storyteller through unique adventures into a world that normally only adults might encounter. In the second story, I explore the subjectivity of perspective revealed through the lucid dreams of a little child that link perception, self-discovery and reality in a holistic connectedness. In my final story, The Girl Who Talked to Plants, I will take you on a journey into a little girl’s frustrating view of parental insensitivity and her discovery that confirms "plants are special" and possess their own inner world.
These stories reflect elements from my own childhood explorations told in story form. In my own inner world, I too understood that we can communicate with animals and plants, and found we all tend to recreate the world in our own image. And as you learn to investigate your own child’s inner life, you too will discover the rich, wonderful view they have of the world. And who knows, perhaps your interest and curiosity may release a Michael Angelo Batio or a Maya Angelou, a Steven Spielberg, Bobby Fischer or Pablo Picasso. Whatever your communication with the inner child might uncover, I am sure it will reveal the magic of individual perspective!
Note: The book, Dolphina’s World & Other Stories is available on amazon.com or by accessing:
outskirtspress.com/DOLPHINASWORLD.
