Four and 20
Today I will be turning 4 days old, as a 20 year old. I still find it hard to say it when people ask “how old are you” I give them that big round figure… “20 years” Which sounds like the amount of time your Grandfather worked in the air force… Hahah yeah – I’m a big boy. These were the thoughts I had as I sat in a tree… “Is a twenty year old man really meant to be climbing trees?”
I recall back to when I was 10 years old sitting on my bunk bed at bed time. (Half my life ago!!!) Between reading Harry Potter I had a little notebook where I wrote my theories to life. Life was simple back then. Solutions were simple… And I thought to myself. Well. Wouldn’t the world be easier if we all simplified it like children. Well. That’s the plan. I remember writing that down in my little notebook. A point of reference for my future self “always think like a child”
Years after that I would look back on that and think… Well. Yes. But how. The world is not so simple. But the 10 year old me was not totally wrong…
A child can see things objectively. With humor. Take hurdles with a leap and lives untainted by negative influence such as prejudices. But what happens then? Well through their youth children start to see the sharper side of life… The one what if we are not careful tends to scratch us. Mindset changes and they can go astray… (This is different from going to straya). This time in their life has become known as the dreaded adolescence. And we have all heard about it – how the youth are going cray cray. But what to do?!? *sigh* *shrugs*
Well that’s where me sitting in the tree comes in. We teach them to climb. Metaphorically speaking… We need to help them rise above the sharpness of the world. Rise above the adolescent stigma and connotations that it involve. How? Well… That’s what I’ve been doing this weekend… There’s a mystical force known as the “Junior Youth Empowerment Program” which aims to morally educate and redirect the energy of youth during this complex and changing time in their life. The program provides youth with tools and understandings in which they can look at the world in a more positive light.
Suddenly – nek minnut. We have changed the dreaded adolescence into the most constructive time of their lives. Great success. Not forgetting that I’m still sitting in a tree – I’m there thinking about how I’m going to help with this process of educating the youth. This is where my study of media comes in – I’ve always loved the way in which media has a direct and powerful influence on its audiences. Like right now, all the media on the news just makes us think that its a hard knock life for us… Well I’m hoping that the media of the future changes all that…
I suppose what I’m trying to say is that we can’t simply think that the world is all terrible and there is no way to fix nuthing… There’s a certain charm in the joyful and playful way children see the world. The trick is to look at everything childhood represents and never let that escape us. Always finding time to hug each other, play, tell jokes and leap hurdles. So what if you are 20, 50? Go climb a tree.
I guess its hard to swallow you think of all the things ahead of you… And all lifes responsibilities, but if u welcome that challenge with excitement you can then take it on. I mean… At the age of 20 you have already overcome the mountain of learning how to drive, getting a job and school…. Yeah sure – there’s a 13 year old genius millionaire kid who’s got a Ferrari and u don’t. But calm down and stop comparing yourself to others… Just hop in their Ferrari and have a laugh. (I’m not sire what that metaphor was meant to be)
Just go climb a tree… Or better still… Rise up.
