The Innocence of Youth

When my daughter was just a li'l sprout (maybe 4 or 5), I remember her walking up to another child on the playground and saying "Hi, I'm Maddie will you play with me and be my friend?". If you have children, you can probably guess what happened. The two of them trundled off together and were immediately fast friends. It is amazing how this adventurous and open spirit is completely absent (or perhaps extinguished) in adults. I was thinking to myself how our adult worlds would be so much different if we still had this ability to openly share ourselves with others. No reluctance, no embarrassment, no complications, no separations, no socio-economic divisions. My daughter's question has stuck with me over the years. Every now and then it drifts through my mind and tickles me and it starts me pondering ...