The five o five : Sunday, November 25, 2007

Remember the Magic

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M A G I C
"
Time shuffles us down this long hallway handing us new tasks, responsibilities and even identities but who says that we have to accept them.
"

Do you remember being awake all night waiting for Santa to arrive? How about the first time you placed a tooth under your pillow; did you stay up all night waiting to catch a glittery glimpse of the tooth fairy. What about right before your big birthday party; did you endure a restless night in excited anticipation waiting for some big moment? When was the last time you felt that way? Six years old? Ten? Why is it that when we become adults things stop being so exciting? Isn't there anything still worth waiting for? Is there any magic left in the world?

For some reason, as a child, you think that being an adult is the coolest thing ever. You see all of the things your parents can do. All the special privileges and exclusive activities they can take part in and even if we don't understand them we know that we want to be a part of it some day. When we were kids adults seemed to do lots of cool things like drive, go to work, stay up late, drink alcohol, ride motor cycles, etc, etc [You Tube: HOME ALONE - loosely related]... I remember thinking it must be the bestest thing ever to be an adult.

Then reality starts to kick in. The closer you get to that world (that once fabled land of adulthood) the mask of imagination begins to be peeled off layer by layer. You start to see that the things you once thought were so great really don't hold all of the magic that you would imagine they would. You know what I mean. The big one for a lot of us (specifically males) was sex. You remember thinking that sex (like in the movies) can packaged with fireworks, confetti, streamers and a heavenly beam of light to shine down on the smiling satisfaction of two exhausted yet pleased bodies. Most of (those who remember) know that that's not how the first time ever goes [you tube Mean Girls]. Most of us had to deal with the fumbling, bumbling, "that's not the right place" or "What are you doing" scenario and if you didn't then good for you.

M A G I C
"
Who out there remembers raising your hand in school and telling the teacher that you want to be an astronaut / chef when you grow up? That's the magic I remember. You were capable of everything and anything (in your mind) because you were unbound by responsibility.
"

Where does the magic and anticipation go when we get older? Why does the world seem to grow a lot colder and un-entertaining. I remember all I had to have was a stick and a rubber band and I was good for hours. When I was younger I didn't even have video games so we definitely had to make due. There was magic everywhere. My brother and I would be in heaven (literally) right outside in the back yard. Do children even go outside anymore? Is the magic leaving even earlier now? The adult world is all about drowning you boring reality in mind altering substance so that you can have that "child like vision" again. Mind altering substance includes anything we do outside of our daily grind to keep our mind off of our daily grind and that includes not only just drugs and alcohol but television and religion as well.

Maybe the way we deal with the world is the method we evolved into in order to cope with the world. Maybe our ancestors with their fear of everything [The five o five : Scardey Cat] had to make up stories and explanations for things they didn't understand in order to finally confront them or at least deal with them. But why in our modern society are adults who are imaginative seen as childish? I was called that once and I'm starting to think that maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Why get offended at something that I really don't want to be anyway. Who says I ever wanted to grow up? Who says I have to. Time shuffles us down this long hallway handing us new tasks, responsibilities and even identities but who says that we have to accept them.

Who out there remembers raising your hand in school and telling the teacher that you want to be an astronaut / chef when you grow up? That's the magic I remember. You were capable of everything and anything (in your mind) because you were unbound by responsibility. Adults want to be children and children want to be adults. That's the way it has always been.

I'm about to be 27 in about a week and that means I'll be one step further away from the younger me and one step closer to the old, graying, pudding eating me. I don't want to grow up but I guess in the end we have no choice. My spirit is young though. I still believe the world has some magic left. Do you?

_{Happy Birthday Daylen...}