#392

"I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students."
     — Carl Sagan

I'm pretty sure Michael knew a thousand things about dinosaurs – not just well-known species but uncommon ones too – before he could tie his shoes. He could pronounce them, which was a feat all its own in some cases – Ankylosaurus, Deinonychus, Pachycephalosaurus – and he studied books and videos, and earnestly spouted facts about them. "Diplodocus was as big as four elephants," he would say, for example. Then came his 'whale phase,' and I'm pretty sure he could've worked at Shedd. There are dolphins and belugas in an oceanarium at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, and staff members stand by the tanks and exhibits and cheerfully educate visitors. Michael was qualified at five years old. He could easily list 20 types of whales (nevermind various facts about them). Try it... 20 of 'em, it's not easy. Yes, dolphins are whales. By outward appearances, I'd say Michael's enthusiasm for science peaked in early elementary school; I agree with Carl Sagan.

Megan leans to the artistic more than the scientific, but little-bitty Meg-pie was enthusiastic to build, make, grow, and understand things, also. As with Michael and all kids, it's human nature. And it's awesome! We enjoy these activities throughout life, but it's a special energy, the excitement and enthusiasm of youth – wasted on the young, some say – the way we see things with wonder at first exposure, the way we process without preconception our experiences (because so many are new). It's why I love traveling now: it's the closest thing to that first-time wonder and energy we get high doses of as kids. Dinosaurs, animals, history, sports, music, spaceships, the Wild West. Trucks, tractors, and trains. Vikings, pirates, and princesses, and on and on. It's all cool shit, really, especially when first introduced. I wish I remembered that state, that sensation, of extreme newness to the world and everything in life. Maybe we rekindle it every time we try something new? Zen Buddhists have a concept called 'shoshin' – aka 'beginner's mind' – which is the cultivation of this feeling of novelty, of invigorating openness and appreciation, but for a familiar activity or object, as if we haven't been exposed to and formed opinions about it already. 'Experts' can become closed off to new ideas; they assume, dismiss, and prefer familiar and validating information over fresh perspectives. Many don't want to be seriously challenged or conflicted. The minds of children and beginners can't be this way; they're empty, wide open, curious, hungry. I hope M 'n' m fill their heads with positive, helpful, inspiring stuff with my help. Probably not, since I don't limit their device use enough. And young minds famously become open to everything except the advice and ideas of their parents. Maybe M 'n' m aren't listening anymore, or observing my example. Megan isn't for sure. Michael's in high school. Fine, if they resume someday, they can have a 'beginner's mind' about it. I welcome advice from my parents now and often request it, even though we live hundreds of miles apart. Bummer, we were under the same roof for almost 20 years and I didn't absorb even a fraction of what I could've learned.

I'm afraid Limp Bizkit was right: "Life is a lesson, you learn it when you're through."

"Does anybody really know the secret,
Or the combination for this life, and where they keep it,
Its kinda sad when you don't know the meaning,
But everything happens for a reason,
I don't even know what I should say,
'Cause I'm an idiot, a loser, a microphone abuser,
I analyze every second I exist,
Beatin' on my mind every second with my fist,
...
And there ain't nothing I can do,
'Cause life is a lesson, you learn it when you're through.
     – Limp Bizkit, Take a Look Around