Take another look at the title for this piece. Emancipated innocence•. Try to remember these words. Why? Because they represent a lighthouse concept, a key that unlocks a portion of the future, and a clarifying breeze that gently blows away the cultural fog that obscures what is good about growing older. Freedom lies ahead for those who remember. So does the re-enchantment of the world. These words represent a powerful aspect of Nature, which is way too undervalued today.
Emancipated innocence. What does that mean? How is it relevant to us? These are good questions, worth exploring. The word ‘emancipated’ means freed from something, in this case, the myopic views owned by the culture, not just on old people, but almost everything. It often takes a life-time to realize how much bad advice and misdirection is provided by cultural convention.
Part of what makes it so hard to free oneself, is that we each have loved ones, friends and family, that are so afraid of coloring outside the lines. They have carved ruts for themselves, that they want give to us. They are lovingly offering the same kind of protection, which they suffer from. Sometimes, most often, it takes a lifetime to work up the courage to transcend them, go through the anxiety they won’t face, and find freedom for oneself.
There is a big difference between the innocence of childhood, and the innocence that comes to some in later life. I call this rebirth, elder innocence. An infant’s innocence is mesmerizing. It is a fresh encounter with Life that is so engaging, to a child, and to anyone witnessing the awe of discovery. It is a totally fascinating and naïve encounter with the world, that takes place before a child is hobbled by the practices of civilization.
Elder innocence is similar, but something else. For instance it isn’t exactly naïve. It is a re-discovery of the magic and natural beauty of the world, a fresh not-knowing, that is a product of liberation from the gravitational pull of mass knowing, the cultural hubris of the times.
Elder innocence is as compelling as childhood innocence, maybe more so, because it is infused with delight and pleasure. There is nothing so joyful, so happy-making, as emerging from the gauntlet of a life defined by other’s — and/or cultural decrees.
Emancipated innocence is an achievement. Not like the product of trying to recover naiveté, but the outcome of being brave enough to become oneself, despite the straightjacket that is offered to fend off fear and anxiety. It is the hard-won innocence, which reflects the failure to kow-tow to the well-meaning, but bad advice of others. It is life lived to the beat of a different drum. It is ultimately, a bonus for trusting what stirs within.
Emancipated innocence is different than childhood innocence in another important way; it requires something of us. The re-enchantment of the world occurs not solely because of nature, or of human effort, but because the two are combined. Wonder interrupts the planned life. Uncertainty intrudes. And, the future and the past become one extended moment. Life does its mystical thing to us. And, if we have the will — we are freshly humbled by these things — and susceptible.
Innocence is unknowing. It thrives because of uncertainty. It’s not good for business (commercial activity), but it insures a better relationship with the mystery of this existence. Innocence always takes two; the observer and the observed. It is within us, just waiting under the encrustations of expectation, for attention. It is a resonating invitation to look again.
