Inside all of us...

We went and saw the film Where the Wild Things Are on Saurday night. It was a fantastic movie. More beautiful and insightful than I had expected (which was a lot). It brought out some emotions in me that I hadn't felt in a long time. Those basically belonging to my inner-eight-year-old. It made me miss being young and free. So much of that is lost so quickly, and we never even realize it is leaving.

I miss the days when the biggest tragedy of the day would be because my igloo got stomped on, or I got sent to my room. Im not saying this to suggest that now that I'm "grown-up" I've got bigger, more important things to worry about. I'm saying this because when those things are your biggerst worries, your biggest concerns, your imagination is set to run wild. Life is limitless, and all things are possible. Its only until we grow older that we start viewing the world in a more cynical way. We begin to learn that people will always dissappoint us, no matter how close we are to them. We learn that things don't always work out the way we want them to--and that merely is a part of life. We begin to expect less of people and our surroundings.

That is the true tragedy of growing up. Not the responsibilities that start to weigh down on our shoulders. Not the loads of bills that acrue on our kitchen table that we pretend arent there. The true tragedy is that we begin to lose sight of what made every day a new adventure. Things become boring and mundane.

I think we should all try to at least see through the eyes of an eight-year-old at least once a day. Do things that we normally wouldnt because we would normally think "what's the point?" Run up to a bunch of birds and watch as they all fly away. Kick a big pile of leaves only to get our shoes wet and dirty. Lie on our backs and let our dogs lick our faces.

I am grown-up now. I have a job, a beautiful fiance, two amazing dogs, a townhouse, and a car. My life is more complicated today than it was fourteen years ago. But that's life.

I think I'm going to try to see the world through the eyes of an eight-year-old at least once a day.

Starting today.