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As I approach the big 3-0, I find that most of my time is spent writing and contemplating the past, present and future. When I was younger I always thought I would be married with children by this time. But as the saying goes, ‘If you want to see God laugh then tell him your plans’.
This constant contemplation has ultimately got me to thinking about the process of raising our children. I say our (even though I have none myself – I do have nieces and nephews) children because it takes a village to raise a child. Now-a-days we seem more concerned with our own well-being as opposed to that of the future. Because ultimately, the children are our future and pretty much everything we do effects their inheritance (whether its stocks and bonds and trust funds or this big blue ball of a planet we call earth).
Therefore I ask myself the question, how are we raising them. We try to protect them from things they are not ready for but will eventually face in their lifetime and hope for the best. How do we guide them towards who they are meant to be? Does independence and individuality even matter anymore? Or do our personalities become smudged, smeared and mixed together into the ‘group think’ mentality as we grow older and conform? Is it more difficult by far to be independent of our inner shackles that we place upon ourselves as opposed to the shackles others place on us? How does the individual define what it is to be thyself, to be a man, woman or a human being for that matter? What are the fears of young Americans, of young people across the globe? How often do our nightmares become reality which inevitably holds us back from taking a step over the unseen and into the pitch black darkness of the unknown?
The only answer I can come up with is that, if we attempt to understand the darkness in our hearts that each human possess, spend some quality time with ourselves, and thus know your true self.
The problem with exploring our inner darknesses is that most people won't or don't acknowledge that they exist, hence why it (the inner darkness) is referred to as so.
ReplyDeleteYet still, I don't see how understanding the darkness in our hearts will answer how we are currently raising our children. And, in all honesty, there is no one answer to that question.
Of course I could be completely wrong, but I find that there are 2 paradigms when raising our children. As parents, we either want to emulate the way we ourselves were raised, of course always striving for more for our children. Or, often times, we vow to be and do nothing like our parents were and did, while again, wanting more for our children than we ever had.