Tuesday 25 October 2011

The innocence of not knowing prices and value of things

Long ago, when I was a kid, it was wonderful to think that everything was possible and easy in life. For example, it was quite common to think that I will have a house by the sea and have a large telescope in my living room which would enable me to view the craters of the moon. Alas! the world from the eyes of a child is seldom based on practical calculations and pragmatic decisions. That world is Utopia, I reckon.

It is quite amazing to observe that as children, we don't estimate wishes and dreams through money. But that innocence slowly fades when one enters the teens. The harsh reality of money and value seeps into the thoughts and slowly the wishes disappear. All that one wants, as a teenager is something removed from the fantasies of a child. The "house by the sea" slowly vanishes and what is visible is the great idea of a 'career.' The becoming of something (I mean in a profession) is the ultimate beacon to be reached. Parents, teachers and well wishing adults remind us to remember what we have to become in the future. Even the path to a career needs money but that can be attained, anyway.

In the meanwhile, the child that we were talking of in the first paragraph, starts attaching a price to everything material. A house costs a lot of money and a house by the sea costs even more. Dreams have to be dreamt based on the cost price. Then the wishes no longer remain wishes. They become pursuits.



The other day I was thinking of how as a child, I wished for so many things. The wishes were just wishes and not something that I should possess. Wishing is one and possessing is another. I hope you get what I mean. We wished because we liked to pass our idle hours in thinking of something. It used to be a lovely pass time before sleep folded us up in her loving arms. But now, when sleep eludes, I calculate the price and wonder when will I be able to accumulate money to buy X or Y. It is at this juncture, faith enters. As a child there were wishes but no faith but now there are wishes and faith.

I guess the cycle has to go on.

Well, I don't know whether I made sense in this post. If this post kindled something within, then would you care to share what was kindled? I would be all ears . . .

Image: Internet


35 comments:

  1. Dreaming as a child is an essential part of the life cycle, and when we grow into adults, some times we do laugh at some of the stupid things that we dreamt about.

    Maybe that is why it is termed as "in a child's world"

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  2. we move from dreamers to realists...of course some of our dreams are a little crazy but what a life it was then...

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  3. Neat post - something that everyone can relate to. Made me stumble back in time. Nice!

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  4. Dreaming is a must it is what keeps our inner kid alive...

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  5. Dreams keep me going even now Susan,however impracticable it may be...if not I would have given up long time back...
    Today I can do anything to get back my childhood days...and start dreaming all over again.

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  6. Susan Deborah, you sure make me think! When I was young, I did not think about owning things. As a child on a farm I had all I needed, much more than most kids then. Like meat, a job (at age 6) candy, sugar, a 600-acre playground, etc.

    I just wanted to BE someone else...and I was!!! I was NEVER who you saw. "Only Make Believe" was 'my song'!

    BTW, even at this ripe age, I am still not mature--working on it, but not too hard--grin! In heaven I expect St Peter to say to me, "Hey KID! Grow up! For now, go join the little boys' choir."

    Lucky also to have that faith...otherwise, what would be--COULD be?--the purpose of living????

    PEACE and JOY always, girl!

    LOVED your brain-teaser today. Hope I did not bore you...TOO much!

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  7. as a child i thought i (and our family) owned everything - the concept of paying for products and services never occurred to me - i thought that the shop where we go to buy clothes and shoes is my dad's and so on...

    there is a commercial realization to growing up which ofcourse is not veyr welcomed but then that is what life is about sadly - i like to believe I have faith and dreams but sometimes reality can be a little too harsh, no?

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  8. :) I don't know Susan. I still have the child like dreams.Money- is not the dream the dream is to do what you want to do. And childhood dreams can usually be achieved without much money. It is the dreams when you know what money means that causes the problem.

    Reminded me of the days when I saved money as a kid

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  9. However, I do think that in some ways our childhood dreams symbolised our longing for something...For example, I used to dream of owning a book shop, of teaching...every that revolved around words...And my unconscious longing brought me to making words my livelihood.
    Hope I made sense :)

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  10. You know, I've been thinking about this myself. When we're children nothing seems out of reach or impossible - we cud all be astronauts or ballerinas or Oscar-winners. We give up on those possibilities when we grow up, exchanging them for 'realistic ideas'. In the end we settle for a quite ordinary life because we stop believing the extraordinary is possible. And that is sad.

    I actually posted about this on my blog, too.

    Here - http://bluedrain.blogspot.com/2011/04/dream-on.html

    I love how you think about stuff like this and it leads to these wonderful posts, dear Susan. And a very happy Diwali to you! :)

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  11. I always was a dreamer, still am. At the time when the money-reality hit me I found a solution around it. I decided to grow very old, 96 and therefore I had plenty of time to safe up the money needed for what I wanted to have. So most of the time I don't need the items right now, I just dream about them and someday I will have my dream forfilled.

    Hope my solution makes some sense to you.

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  12. This made me kinda sad, Mrs. Sus. I remember when I was a child, I thought I could go around the world and see all the countries I colored on the World Atlas. The maps I was obsessed with would become actual landscapes before my eyes. I never realized it would take a great deal of money to do that. I've since given up on that dream, especially with a job like mine that doesn't pay well. :=(

    Anyway, happy diwali!

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  13. Hi Susan .. we dare to dream as kids - perhaps as adults we need to share a little of how others live - and then build in that appreciation for cost and value ..

    Just growing into adulthood doesn't really teach us the lessons of life - that we can dream still .. dream on and one day your dreams might come true ..

    A house by the sea with a telescope to view the moon is a glorious thought ... and as your image next to this comment says "Never regret something that once made you smile" .. seems appropriate! Cheers Hilary

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  14. Dreaming and hoping are with us during all the phases of life. Without these two we wouldn't be able to make it.

    Of course, our dreams and hopes as adults are not exactly the same as those we had as children, but the bsis is the same.

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  15. Sorry for the typing error in the last sentence. the word is 'basis' not bsis.

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  16. I hope as adults we don't just dream of material things. I think of John Lennon's song, "Imagine". There are dreams worth sustaining.

    Your post made me think of my childhood dreams. I dreamed of being a ballerina. Maybe I am that, in another dimension.

    Take care Susan, keep coming up with your thought provoking blogs.

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  17. Dear Susan, I am too worried about money these days, as my white house is not selling.;)
    But I enjoyed your contemplations here, about the innocence of naivete of a child's mind. I recall, being a child of immigrants as a teenager I draw everything I dreamed of. Anything I could not have, I just drew into a picture.;) It made me realize that what we yearn most of all for is the idea of owning something, it is the quest that is exciting.;) Once our dream comes true, the allure fades.;))
    Lovely read as always, wishing you many dreams come true.;))
    xoxo

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  18. I think wishes and faith kind of go hand in hand. I believe that wishes are a sort of birthing of an unconscious faith that we can acquire or do something. Does that make sense? I know these are such abstract thoughts, so we often think we're not making sense, but I"m thinking you'll know what I mean. I suppose I can say I see a wish as a sort of gift of an inner belief we have in ourselves or in something. Oh, I give up the ghost! My thoughts...

    Have a lovely weekend, dear Susan!

    Nevine

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  19. Joe:

    Sometimes we never stop dreaming and there is a part which is still a child.

    Brian:

    Whatte life!!!

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  20. :-Dee:

    Lovely stumbling, I reckon!

    Wishing you a lovely month ahead.

    Savira:

    Absolutely.

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  21. Alpana:

    I'm glad that you have an unfailing spirit. Every age has its own sweetness.

    Steve:

    "Hey kid!!! Grow up." But why do you need to grow up in Heaven. It doesn't matter, Steve. If I'm also there, I would quickly ask Peter to let you join our gang, which is ageless!!!

    I love love what you comment, Steve. You never ever bore me.

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  22. Yuvika:

    Even I had the same notion esp of banks and petrol bunks.

    Reality is quite alarming but what to do. It's the truth.

    Sameera:

    I never saved money then nor now. Maybe I should do a reality check!!!

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  23. Corinne:

    Maybe, Corinne. As a child one longs for the most bizarre of things, like building a house in the waters of Juhu beach!!!

    Karishma:

    Quite ordinary life!! Yes and no. Yes, because we forget that once we had such dreams and No, because because somewhere those small impossibilities are still present.

    Sad but true.

    Thanks for your lovely words, Karishma. Your comments always leave me warm and smiling.

    Now rushing to read your post :)

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  24. Elizabeth:

    Decided to grow very old!!! Now that sounds interesting, Elizabeth. You are a true-blue dreamer. Maybe I should try your method.

    Age:

    It is sad, Age and I feel it more and more. We both are in jobs like that. Teachers, Teachers . . .

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  25. Hilary:

    "Dare" is the word! How assuring your words are, dear Hilary. Thanks and wishing you a lovely November ahead.

    DUTA:

    True. The basis is the same. Our dreams change according to time and thoughts.

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  26. Myrna:

    A ballerina of words, perhaps? Thanks a lot for your warm words of appreciation, Myrna. Glad to have you here.

    Zuzana:

    I wish I was rich enough to buy your white house and live there. Your spirit will be a wonderful company for us.
    Drawing your dreams is wonderful, Zuzana. Do you have those pictures? I would love to see them :)

    Wishing you a beautiful November.

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  27. Nevine:

    Of course your sentence makes sense, dear Nevine. Your thoughts as always provoke me to higher thoughts and dreams, dear Nevine. Thanks for that.

    Joy always and wishes for a fantastic November.

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  28. I think we just get hit by reality and in the process become a bit more cynical as well...

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  29. OtienoHongo:

    . . . and reality is not always wonderful as the dreams of our childhood.

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  30. During my lifetime I already had a lot of descriptions but never a true-blue dreamer. Co-incidently my favorite colour is blue and I'm working on a blue piece!!!!

    (At the moment I'm having a party for one with keith. if you have time find your favorite music and shake it girl) LOL

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  31. Elizabeth:

    Blues all the way . . .

    Thanks for your invite but too far!!!!

    Have a lovely weekend :)

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  32. I had one dream when I was young, I wanted 'Destination Infinity' to be more popular than 'Incredible India'. You can read why, from my about page. And I am working on it NOW.

    During childhood, we can only dream. Its only when we become adults that we can work towards achieving it and perhaps even achieve it!

    Destination Infinity

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  33. I know just what you mean. What I've realized growing up, is that I have to have faith in myself to make my wishes come true.

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  34. Rajesh:

    All the best for your dreams. May you soon find popularity.

    Angie:

    SO very true, dear Angie. Childhood . . . well, sighs*

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  35. This comment has been removed by the author.

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