I have, like most people, been fascinated
with children. There is something about watching a child discover the world, which
is absolutely mesmerizing. I learned that I could not conduct a group, a therapy
session, or even a decent discussion, if there was a young child, particularly,
a baby around. I would soon end up paying so much attention to the infant that
I, and the other adults present, could not really carry on. I was captivated
with the child. I didn’t want to miss their encounter with anything for the
first time. I came to eventually understand that fascination, to grasp it, as a
desire to see the world again — through the child’s eyes— allowing me to see
the world, innocently, in all its raw magical potential.
Now I’m older, much older, and I’m delighted
to be discovering there is another kind of innocence that makes the world come alive
in a similar enchanting way. What is so unusual about this kind of innocence, is
that it is so unknown, and yet, so similarly wondrous. Even more remarkable to
me, is the fact that it seems to come on late in life. Strangely, this seems to
be a form of innocence, which survives the slings and arrows of adulthood.
Imagine that, an innocence that endures the horrors we all know.
It turns out, one of the benefits of old age,
is that it comes with a fresh way of perceiving reality. I won’t go into the
disturbing fact that everyone doesn’t uniformly have this experience. Instead,
here, I’m going to dwell on the realization that some do. Life, for a few,
turns over, and reveals itself in ways similarly magical as childhood, but
different, in a particularly grown-up way. This through-the-looking-glass way
of experiencing Life isn’t available to every grey person, but is much more
common than realized, and could, if it were more thoroughly understood, lead to
a greater awareness of just how miraculous this life really is.
I’m talking about something a colleague calls
“emancipated innocence.” Notice the word emancipated. That word implies
something really important about the process of returning to an innocent
apprehension of the world. The world we know, is one we must free ourselves
from, in order to have a fresh take on reality. Getting away, in this case, is
far different than the transcendental assumptions that seem to prevail. Getting
away from what has passed (and sometimes served) involves getting through all
the heartbreaks, betrayals, achievements and accidents.
Emancipated innocence arises as a result of
living out the rigors of life — it is an apprehension of what’s left — the
miraculous. This kind of innocence arises inside —then transforms what it
experiences. The old acquire this gift naturally. It comes as a result of
living fully, engaging what life presents one with, becoming true to what is
within, and keeping faith with the mystery of existence. It seems to derive
from going beyond the advice of culture. Emancipation is a weighty
weightlessness that takes courage, or is a result of adequate desperation — a
pulling inward, away from the known world in favor of the unknown world.
Some old folks end up loose and free. How
this happens, is for those of us motivated by whimsy, to discover. In any case,
somebody truly original emerges — the old fool. The old fool is the apotheosis
of what it means to escape the gravity of societal beholding. This is the
person who belongs, not to family, friends, community, or history, but to Life.
They belong entirely to themselves, and simultaneously, to the Universe. They
have succeeded in integrating what seems impossible. The old fools are the ones
who are elegantly non-conventional while being adroitly relational. They live
not for a purpose — they exist because Life exists. They are like play, without
a purpose or reason, not for the sake of anything, but out of the sheer
exuberance of existence.
It is good to know that such humans exist.
They aren’t an accident, any more than the rest of us are. Rather, they show us
how much is possible. They restore, along with emancipated innocence, the level
of enchantment in the world. It is good to know that in this world, with its threats,
horrors and sadness, human beings can exist who know these terrible things, and
yet are capable of experiencing and expressing the miraculousness of Life.
It is good to know the old fool is amongst
us. It is even better to know that the old fool is within us. Each of us is
someone Life might turn into somebody original, enough so, that despite the
stupidity and insensitivity that haunts us, our humanness shines miraculously
forth. The old fool is an embodiment of our essence. It is amazing what
ripening can do for us.
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