My dictionary weighs six pounds. It's BIG. Oh yeah I know about the spell check and I use it but I like having a good fat old dictionary around. Here's what I'm going to do. From time to time, I'm going to randomly pick a word for the day and discuss it. I also thought the word could function like a tarot card reading for the day. Oh and just so you know, I'm not going to consciously select these words. I'm going to rifle through the pages and then let my fingers wander over the selected page without looking and then land on one. So let's get started. And today's word is: JUVENILE.
How very appropriate. I'm feeling rather juvenile as I write this. I'm making faces and you can't see them and you know what? They're really stupid looking.
You know what the first thing that came to my mind was? Juvenile Detention Center! For me that was Holy Cross High School. Arrgghhh! I think juvenile is one of those "bad" words. I think we're not supposed to be juvenile. Even juveniles aren't supposed to be juvenile. And certainly not the 30+ crowd.
Come on! We live in a juvenile country on juvenile planet so for anyone to say to anyone "You're so juvenile!" seems patently ridiculous and highly relative. As a matter of fact I think more damage comes from people being conviced they're adults than just about anything else. Why? Because if you're convinced you're an adult, you think you're supposed to know something, be completely sure of something. This obviously leads to all manner of horrors.
Of course deciding you're an adult does take away that nagging fear that life is somewhat random, has no structure and is perhaps completely incomprehensible (mortgages seem to do this as well). And that our futures are not completely in our hands. That is why so many people want to think of themselves as adults - blind fear of the unknown!!!
I'm not saying we don't grow and mature and learn and have experiences that teach us things and all that good stuff. I'm not saying we don't gain responsibilities and obligations and make commitments as we age. I'm just saying that in spite of all those things we're still kids underneath it all. And while I think most people know this it often seems they try to kill off that younger more open and more uncertain part of themselves. Or at least send it to its room.
So here's the thought for the day. We're all juveniles, we always will be. Just accept it. Our goal should not be to grow up, and have it all figured out, but just to strive whenever possible not to be juvenile delinquents. I think we might actually be able to reach that one.
1 comment:
What a great idea (and execution) for a daily column! Is that all that struck rhinedawg, that you weighed your dictionary? It's nothing to just plop it down on a digital postal scale. In fact, my mouse weighs 2.7 ounces. See, I can be juvenile too. By the way, the sixth definition of "juvenile" in my Microsoft Word dictionary is "used to describe water or gas that has risen to the surface from the earth..." So we have earth farts with possible diarrhea. Now that's juvenile!
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