Isn't it strange
how we have so many thoughts
running through our mind sometimes,
yet when we sit down to write
it goes completely blank.
Before I started college
my mind was filled with strange,
off the wall thoughts that I found
hmm!!.. interesting to write about.
One such thing that interests me is the
way we are trained to think within certain
limits that discipline our thought process.
~
All our lives we are told,
"No, you can't do that"
or
"No, You aren't supposed to think that way"
or
"Grow up and act your age"
and a lot of other things like that.
~
Well, I am here to tell you
that if growing up means
confining my mind and
my imagination to the
limits that are set
by others, then
I don't wish to grow up.
~
It's like tunnel vision
or
like putting blinders on a horse.
The horse sees what is directly in front of him.
We are taught to put blinders on our mind.
In this manner we think just what we are taught
to think. So that what we imagine and what we think
can be controlled. Being classified into a category
or stuffed into a pigeonhole, can stifle the creative
juices that run through ones veins. Pigeonholes and
categories act as blinders. I personally hate
pigeonholes and categories. If I feel like thinking
about something in a different way than others or
asking questions, then I will most likely be
considered childish.
~
If I act different than other 56 year old women,
I'm told I should grow up, act my age and set
an example. Well I'm a round peg and I don't
fit in all the square holes. I don't feel like I
should have to act like everyone else. I'm an
individual, which means I can be different.
~
When this country started, people had inventive ideas
and were free to explore them. Now we teach our
children to think what we tell them to and that those
thoughts should be structured in a certain way.
We discipline their mind so that it can't
ramble free to explore and broaden their insights.
~
With each generation the blinders are clamped down
ever tighter to close out a little more of the
imagination. We teach them to learn the facts,
stay within the guidelines,
don't daydream,
pay attention to the rules.
Conform... Conform... Conform...
Thus, we produce children that can turn on and
operate machines but not turn on and operate their
imaginations. We give children toys with explicit
instructions on how it is supposed to be used.
I have a question. How did the toys and games get
started in the first place? I also have an answer.
Someone invented them out of their imagination!
~
We create children that don't have any idea what
to do when they have spare time because there isn't
anyone entertaining them and their spare time isn't
structured or planned out for them.
Most of them can't stand to have an idle moment because
they might actually have a creative or individual thought
that is out side the frame work of the structured lives
they live. Then when one has an independent idea and
becomes a little creative, people frown on it like
they have committed a crime. All they want is the
freedom to explore their imaginations. They are
little round pegs fighting against that square pigeonhole,
against a society of people trying to pound them
into a square shape, or into submission. Then
we wonder why they can't seem to manage on their own
and solve their own problems when they leave home.
~
Doesn't any one see this except me?
Those little round pegs hanging on for dear life
to save their individuality, their shape, and the
thing that makes them different, their mind.
All they want is the same opportunity to pretend
and be creative as the generations before them had.
~
Too much structure can shape our future generations into
a mass of robots and many brilliant minds may be wasted
each day because of rules and regulations.
They have to perform according to all the boundaries
that have been set down.
~
There are people in this world that are near genius
in one field or another but are unable to excel in others.
If allowed to excel in their talents
there is no telling where it might lead.
I know people who excel in algebra but are
unable to write a grammatically proper sentence.
There are others that are extremely talented in
grammar but can't write a five paragraph essay.
These people are forced to study subjects that they
have no interest or ability in, they soon loose their
self-confidence and their interest in the one talent
they do have.
~
Subsequently, we loose what might have been one of
the most brilliant minds of our times.
With the loss of each creative mind we could be loosing
the cure for AIDS or CANCER or any number of other
diseases that could be found in the creative minds
of those children that become discouraged with
trying to fit into someone else's pattern.
~
I'm not saying that some structure isn't necessary
but why don't we teach our children to explore their mind,
their imaginations and their talents instead of
concentrating on setting more and more limits
on what they are allowed to do.
~
Why don't we spend more time encouraging their talents
and less time on unnecessary facts.
They can look up facts in books.
Their talents will lead them to learn other things
when they start asking questions and that is when they
are ready to be taught the facts.
~
An artist for instance, if left to pursue art will
eventually want to know about other artists and
will be open to historical facts.
A writer will eventually want to know how other writers
made the structure of their works more readable
and that is when they are open to grammar.
Its like pitching pebbles into a pond.
Each pebble causes its own rings but is eventually
effected by other rings from other pebbles.
So many brilliant minds give up and become dim
or dormant, doing mindless jobs
because their dreams of excelling in their talents
have been dashed against the rocks of structured education
and unyielding rules and regulations that are the blinders
of our minds.
We should take the blinders off and allow people
to explore the essence of life and the gifts
they have been given.
Is it any wonder people change jobs so often,
commit suicide, go crazy, and have so many mental,
emotional and physical problems.
~
This is just my opinions and some food for thought!
Think outside the Box!

*****
Author & Creator:R.S.Ainley