The theatre's packed. We're all watching as one of the actors on stage grabs the mike and says something. We chuckle -- but then out of the back far corner of the theatre a high pitched euphoric giggle cuts through and fills the entire house. And it keeps going. The adults then laugh a belly laugh at the little child's laugh and the actor on stage laughs and we all laugh for a good minute or two...an eternity in stage time.
What happened to us in the in-between? What happened between the euphoric giggle of childhood that encompasses us from the soul and takes over our entire bodies to the adult chuckle? Have we been hurt that much? Cynicism creeping in and fear of following social graces and doing what's acceptable?
We spend a lot of time trying to please people. In fact, children have an innate need to please their parents. But what happens when we try and fail? When we hurt? How do we cope? We build callouses on our hands. Do we have that "tough skin" added to our spirits?
Some of the youngest people I know are adults past their prime. There is a natural curiosity they bring with them and an energy that time hasn't been able to dampen. A flexibility of mind and the ability to make light of the darkest parts of their lives are other abilities that these people share. When I ask them about it the response is often not one of a victim but one where they've used the dark part of their lives to gain something for their current life.
People who have dealt with cancer and are currently in remission use their experience to help others who are newly diagnosed or going through treatment. Death of loved ones causes them to value life and the simple things that much more. And a history of abuse turns to a life of clear communication and kindness to those around them with a fierce protection over those who cannot protect themselves.
How do they do that? How do they turn it around? It's not like they've had easy lives or are well off or had a lot of support because some of them haven't. They've just chosen to change the way they approach life -- to do as they choose instead of having life force them to do as it would like.
In auditions as an actor you find that when you go in trying to give people what you think they want, when you try to please them, no one gets pleased. But when you go in doing what YOU want to do -- what seems fun and feels good to you -- you're pleased and they're pleased.
So is that the secret to a young life? Is it living as you would desire, to keep the joy and the curiosity and the fun instead of living it as you think you should? To let go of what you think is appropriate and go forth with a giggle in your spirit?
There's immature and there's childlike. There's aged and then there's old. There's growing up and there's giving up. I'd like to think that we can grow up without giving up.
Deep into the 70th minute of an action movie the dark theatre is filled with adults watching the screen. A suspenseful, tension filled moment is happening and the protagonist is about to go into the antagonist's building. Out of the front corner of the theatre a little voice yells, "NO! DON'T GO THERE!" and it startles us into reality and we laugh -- because we realize that the child has voiced the same thing we were thinking to ourselves. He just didn't filter it. He went there -- to the place of deep involvement in life with passion, with spirit, and without a care of what was appropriate.
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