Being true

My cousin came over for lunch today. I never know what to expect when she visits, thanks to her two little girls under the age of four. There is total chaos, tears, tantrums during their visit and of course, a royal mess when they leave. But its always fun to interact with small children. It is impossible to be anywhere but in the present moment, either to stop a quarrel or prevent an accident or just to observe their funny antics.

The two girls picked things from their hiding places, made toys of regular items, found lost toys, applied new uses to ordinary household items. When the younger one was hungry, she came to me and announced that she was ready to eat. She promptly spit out what she didn't like. She gave me an angry look and clearly asked me to stop laughing when I found some of her cute actions hilarious. She danced with the music. At the end she had a full-blown tantrum in the corridor where she lay down and rolled around, screaming loudly. It's not easy being a kid - no one understands, perhaps that is what she was trying to communicate.

But how can adults understand? We live in a world that is so closed, so guarded. We shield our true feelings, we coat our emotions. We hide behind a curtain to avoid being hurt. We try to say what is right, not what is true. Neither do we praise nor do we criticize freely. We live in a straitjacketed world of political correctness. Not much point in investigating the reasons why and how we transform into boring adults. What we need to learn from kids is that it is OK to let ourselves go more often. Sing loudly, Dance freely. Laugh openly. Speak our mind. Express opinions without fear of repercussions.