Adulthood : The Great Lie
The exuberant imagination of a child, whimsical, free, and completely unpredictable. We as adults tend to look on and laugh, sometimes encouraging, other times discouraging, but rarely is the imagination of a child taken seriously. They will after all grow up one day. Theres Irony in this observation.
Never are we more pure, free, and honest than we are as a child. Adulthood, the great lie is completely adverse. We grow up to lie. As a child our only wishes is to be where and who we are in that moment. Its not until were thrust into social expectation that the manipulation begins. Think about it, your entire adult life is the greatest lie youve ever told. Just like any lie, the longer its told the deeper it winds. Eventually you live your whole life in the pursuit and defense of that lie.
We were never born to be defined as a banker, an engineer, lawyer, or any professional. We however at some point let those define us. Were never who we are when we introduce ourselves anymore, you’re always who you want to be. This becomes a glaring issue when the support of our great lie, takes up more of our time. Soon the lie, has become the life, and we live out the majority of this one life pretending to be something that is really nothing at all.
We’re meant to be people. Communal, tribal, social, and paternal creatures. Were meant to be happy, take care of each other, interact, work together, governed by the patterns of our environment. Today we smile less and work more, we chase our own goals with little regard to helping others, we follow yet we rarely make friends, communal has become logistical, and were no longer a product of our environment, we have created our own and we never leave it.
Ive personally struggled recently with the identification of who I am, what I will be. Its absorbed an incredible amount of bandwidth until it hit me. I already am, exactly who Ill be, it is merely a question of what I choose to do, not what I do that defines me. I help, I create, I influence, I care, I laugh and I cry. I am who I am, and I think Ill choose to do something fun today. I am not a business owner, a photographer, a writer, a coach, or single. These are all title that seek to strip us of our own true Identity. I am a human. Without the weight of this truth, it allows us to be distracted from what truly matters, and that is being a better human, not a better lawyer. This is a fundamental flaw of all us today, we seek validation in that which we can create and devalue that which is the miracle we were given on our birthdate. Life.