Most of us emerge on planet earth with all the stridency that our 8 to 9 pounds of flesh can muster. So much so that the infant who emerges without a lusty yell is promptly spanked on the rump to produce one. After all…one has arrived. Say so!
Sideline living is against the grain of human ego. A newborn baby in a household quickly demands just about everyones’ waking and non-waking moments.
While we relish the joy of observing the expansion of new life in a newborn, this quickly becomes old by the time the child hits the terrible twos. Who can blame the toddler? Relinquishing prime real estate territory at ’the center of a universe of ONE‘ cannot be easy.
But, I suspect that the inclinations of the toddler do not fully disappear. In most of us, they simply retreat underground; temporarily masked by the need to adhere to social norms but always eager to assume center stage if and when the opportunity arises. A silent witness to the most debilitating form of human suffering…the deep yearning to be given permission to live life with gusto….
