Insanity Is A Mere Reflection Of What Has Happened Today
Author C.L. Charlesworth shares a childhood memory of herself as a young girl with her father.
When I close my eyes, blue skies make me happy, because they are of my childhood. Fears were really absent, except from the occasional bully (who I eventually befriended). My parents, the church, extended family, and peaceful, multi-cultural neighbors gave me a good foundation.
As an adult, I admit, I’ve lost my footing.
Uncertainties and fears hover over my shadow and double-check my thoughts. Sleep seems to come and go at its will. Innocence of my childhood is buried beneath muted, grey skies. A new way of living is here, and I long for my childhood—not that it was a perfect picture, but the breath of community, church, and family are images I wish to cradle in my solitude.
Self-isolation and social distancing are foreign to someone who grew up in a small town, when it wasn’t uncommon to pass on the sidewalk at least five people you knew, who knew your family and attended your church.
The new normal of 2020 is a dessert I no longer desire.
Some people I know have been forced into a new way of living 2020: confined in homes for months—glued to over-television-stimulation, toxic politics, and social media addiction, no friends or family, or even scarier—paranoid of a whiff of air passing inside their windows. They only venture out of the door to the mailbox, or to pay for food or household supplies delivered. The avoidance of social interaction is their self-imposed insanityIf this was my childhood—–what kind of adult would I be today?
Our PRESENT insanity is: ZEALOUS POLITICS, UNDERMINING SOCIAL MEDIA, PANDEMIC(S), IGNORING GLOBAL WARMING, AND OVERT RASCIM—and I ask what kind of children will they be as tomorrow’s adults?
As an adult, changing insanity takes willpower and fearlessness~~~How can we expect our children to carry this insanity?
Granted, insanity is different for everyone. We have our own adjustments to make and challenges to face. It is vitally important that we also protect our own emotional well-being. Only with perseverance, can adults be better caretakers to the children who deserve memories of innocent, blue skies.
I found Blue Skies thought-provoking
Childhood is never perfect, but the thought of parents healing their own wounds first, giving care to themselves to better assist their children’s journal is an excellent first step to the future. The future is only as good as what you do with the past in the Now.
Calvin, I am in agreement with you about childhoods. For me, it was a paint-by-numbers with my family. Sometimes I got them, and other times, I didn’t. But one thing is for sure, I knew they loved me, and the lessons they taught have given me a good foundation. I learned from my father, no matter how bad things seem, they are even worse if you believe them to be. Thank you, Calvin for your comments.
Thank you Cheryl. I love your childhood memories and the picture and your words about the “insanity” of today. The insanity is also a real opportunity for us all to make BIG changes in the laws and in our MINDS!
Heather, thank you. It was my way of protesting without burning down any buildings!
So true children today don’t have the freedom of our childhood.
Yes, Janice, we are on the same page. Children are many times the last thoughts, and should be the only thoughts.
Hi Cheryl, I liked your story on blue skies.
And yes how 2020 impact this young generation going forward.
I saw the impact of 911 and that was just the US.
This has a worldwide impact, with our country leading the impact!
Phillip
Hello Cousin, I’m glad you can appreciate my thoughts, because 2020 and going forward will need the world’s full attention, sustaining the future generations.
I wish all children could have the loving, supportive childhood in the comfort of community that you had. The isolation of COVID has certainly hurt community. All of us have to make the extra effort to stay in touch, if only by phone or FaceTime. Like you, I worry about what memories and lessons the children of COVID will carry into adulthood, in addition to the signals they might be getting from the current culture of hate and division. Hatred and racism must be taught. Children aren’t born that way, but they are great mimics of their parents. Setting aside COVID and global warming, the most dangerous issue for Americans is the deep division within the country, stoked by a president who only elicits the worst in people. I fear for this country and for all of us who prefer the path of love and inclusion in a fair and honest democracy to what we are currently living under. VOTE BLUE.
Miranda, the passion of your email resonates how important we must be our children’s gate keepers.
I love the picture of you with your father, imagining how proud he’d be of you today.
Blue Skies is one of my favorite and most personal writings. Life as child was not always ideal, but through the ups and downs, there is a great sense of who I am and what I became.