A World without Childhood?

My lunchtime drink of choice is always Diet Peach Snapple. I love the taste. An added bonus is checking out the fact printed on the lid of each bottle. Some are funny, others surprising, but all are conversation starters. Yesterday's was thought provoking: "Bees are born fully grown."

Now, many of you may have already known that, but somewhere in my science education, I missed that lesson. The thought of anything being born fully grown never occurred to me. Imagine no frisky puppies, soft little kittens, or pink piglets. Sounds rather glum, doesn't it?

Sure enough, Will, my significant other, and I became fully immersed in thinking about this phenomenon. Will brought up a movie we'd seen entitled "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." The lead, Brad Pitt (Benjamin), is born old and gradually grows younger—the opposite of what really happens in life. And while not quite the same scenario as being born fully grown, it's the same kind of premise that can spur the "what if" in many of us.

So, what would it be like to be born fully grown? As I went through the day, the concept continued to tickle my imagination. Who would I be if I had no childhood? The older I get, the more I realize how my childhood shaped me. I find myself thinking more about those earlier years than I ever seem to reflect on those spent working and raising a family.

We lived in the country—not the countryside you might think of with rolling hills and other houses nearby, but the isolated kind of country in one of John Steinbeck's books. Our house stood surrounded by fields of weeds. And to reach our nearest neighbor, we had to walk down the dirt road in front of our house to get to a paved road to a huge farm.


Until I went off to first grade, I didn’t see too many other children. In today's world, I guess that would sound grim and lacking in socialization, but I had my imagination and daydreaming to nourish me. I spent hours alone in the fields and the woods. Wild strawberries grew in some of the fields and I can still see myself in suspendered overalls eating them, alone but not lonely. That time spent in solitude, I believe, made me self sufficient, but perhaps a little bit of a loner.

Each spring, I followed my cat to find where she'd hid that year's litter of kittens. I'm not sure how I knew she would have them every year but I think it was because she grew fat, then thin. The question of how the kittens came to be within her never occurred to me. I think it was trust—the innocence of a child who assumes all will continue to be the same in her world.

That simple, artless time of growth is why childhood is not something to be missed. What would it be like to be born fully grown? To be without that time to be, to think, to daydream? It's a treasure we carry our entire lives, but often holds pain, too. My childhood, like most people's, is an amalgam of good and bad memories. For me, the good news is that the distance of time helped put the unhappy moments more in perspective.

My wish for you is that if your childhood was laced with more sadness than joy, you will reach that moment when the sadness is like the sting of a bee, intense when it happened, but short lived in your memory.

Breaking the Blog Block

For the last several months, I’ve been feeling rather empty, at least as far as coming up with what to write on my blog. Writing, just like all the writing experts constantly remind me, is not at all like riding a bicycle or swimming—you can’t just start pedaling or jump into the pool. Writing is much harder and the longer you are away from it, the more difficult it is to start again.

So I search to get past this obstacle called “writer’s block," to get back up on that proverbial seat or take the plunge, but with no success. So I go to Google. Everything you ever want can be found on Google, right? I print out some suggestions from the myriad ones I see displayed. Topics like “How to Get an Idea for a Blog Topic,” or “20 Ideas for Writing a Blog Post,” or “25 Blog Post Ideas and Stimulators to get You Unstuck.” All websites filled with starters and great ideas. I tell myself: Pick one, any one and start.

And the winner is: Consider taking a blog tour and highlight some of your favorite blogs. That makes a lot of sense since whenever I need inspiration, I often turn to fellow bloggers who seem not only to have it together, but write great blogs.

Here’s a list of six that I visit often:
1. Society for Creative Sustainability:  Sandy’s writing is full of joy and optimism and centers on all aspects of creativity, from music, art, or simply looking at life and its accoutrements with a different slant. It's hard to pick a favorite but one that spoke loudly to me recently was "Surviving the Mercury Retrograde."

2. Beth's Urban Tales of Wonder and Decay: Beth has a natural ability to put herself out there on the printed page with courage and authenticity. I'm inspired every time I visit her site! At a recent Open Mic, she read a wonderful piece entitled, "Thanks for Finding My Dead Father Peg." Like me, many who listened were touched to tears.

3. Navigating Through Life: What I like about this site is the author’s focus and ability to relate all things in life and nature, however the small the detail, to her Christian faith. She infuses her writing with grace and humor, yet never wavers from her mission. Check out "Sea Glass 101."

4. Healing Through Writing: A professional writer and writing coach, the author shares her life journey in her postings. Her writing is concise and offers the reader the example of how effective it is when each word counts. One of her recent offerings, "Facing Mortality: A Challenge," takes on a topic that we all will face.

5. Eclosion: Whether she chooses to post poetry or prose, her lyrical way of expressing herself reminds me of the power and sheer beauty words can hold when laced together well. One of her poems, "Bee," shows her mastery of what we all hope to achieve.

6. Poet's Pizza: This blogger is a purist, a man of few words of prose. Instead, he lets his poetry do the talking. His postings speak to the human experience, some humorous, some sad, but all, like "Book," will please and stay with you long after you read them.

Now, that I've taken a walk through some of my favorite blogs, I return here feeling ready to blog once more. And definitely inspired by all these gifted writers.

Thanks, one and all, for helping me find my way back! And keep writing.