It takes a childlike mindset to be an adult........

One of my favourite tunes of all time is a tune called

''A Child is born" composed by Thad Jones.

It's a very mellow and beautifully constructed piece of

music and I used to love playing it.

Originally it was an instrumental piece but after Alec Wilder

heard it performed by the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra,

he felt compelled to put lyrics to it.

(Tony Bennet does a wonderful rendition of it.)

Though I left Sweden many years ago, the other day a Swedish

song about children made its way to my frontal lobe.

The song is called ''The mysterious people'' and

it describes the many ways children can transform

for instance: a pile of pillows into a deserted island, 

a handful of pebbles into a handful of golden coins,

an ordinary bed into a ship full of pirates,

a broom into a magical flying dragon.

The song begins with the words:

''Children are a people, 

a people who live in a different land...''

(A land that only children can inhibit.)

What is a child?

''Children are not things to be molded, but are people

to be unfolded.'' (Jess Lair)

''Children are great imitators so give them something

great to imitate.''(Anonymous)

''Children need models rather than critics.'' (Joseph Joubert)

''Children are a third of our population and all of our

future.''(Promotion of Child Health)

''Children see magic because they look for it.'' (Christopher Moore)

Many of us adults have spent much of our lives learning

how to sublimate our imagination, to live in our ''heads'',

regurgitating our past and fretting about the future. 

Sometimes even to the extent that it feels strange and

kind of unnatural to ''live''(be fully present) in the now.

Children often have the ability to immerse themselves

in their activities, whereas many of us adults often find it 

quite difficult to stay totally focused at the task at hand.

Give a child a brush, some paints and a canvas and 

off they'll go... instant Picasso's.

Give an adult a brush, some paints and a canvas, and

more often than not the adult will say something

to the effect: ''Oh, I am not artistic, I wouldn't be

able paint anything good.''

Children, according to those in the know, live in the process

of the ''doing'', adults are often more outcome orientated.

For a child, each new brush stroke leads to a new 

creation/imagination and discovery. 

Often, us adults tend to stick with judging what we are

doing according to how well we are able to actually paint what we

have in our mind's eye.

Put on some music and more often than not a child will

start to move his/her body(dance) regardless of what kind of music

it is.

Many of us adults often need encouragement(often alcohol) in order to 

start ''dancing like nobody's watching''.

''Oh, no thanks, I don't dance,'' she says although she would love to.

She just knows she'll make a fool of herself.

If you ask a child what he/she wants to be when he/she

grows up, anything is possible.

''What would you like to be when you grow up, Lukas?''

''Batman, I wanna be Batman'', answers Lukas.

Ask a teenager the same question and the answer may be:

''I don't know, I just want a job.''

Most of us adults probably had dreams as children of 

many things that we were going to do when we ''grew up''.

However, for many of us life got in the way 

and so far most of those things were never fulfilled.

 As we have matured, what we once deemed as possible or achievable

as children no longer seem neither plausible or doable.

That's being an adult, innit?

Well, yes and no.

Lately I have come to the conclusion that there are

some ''childlike ways'' that we may benefit from hanging on to.

Such as: curiosity, imagination, a sense of wonderment and awe,

enjoying the moment, laughing out loud, crying out loud,

doing silly stuff, focusing on the process rather than judging, etc. etc.

''It takes a childlike mindset to be an adult.''

(Citizen Z)

''We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old

because we stop playing.''

(George Bernard Shaw)

''Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem

to be solved.''

(Winnie the Poh)

''A child is not a small adult.

If such was the case,

I fear that lack of fun,

wonder and amazement,

 would be the sad, sad result.''

(Citizen Z)

about the image: acrylic on cardboard, some Photoshopping

Did you know that there 250 are children born on earth every minute?