by Suzanne Reisler Litwin
PETER PAN:
Listen to your teacher. Repeat after me:
I won’t grow up,
(I won’t grow up)
I don’t want to go to school.
(I don’t want to go to school)
Just to learn to be a parrot,
(Just to learn to be a parrot)
And recite a silly rule.
(And recite a silly rule)
If growing up means
It would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,
I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me!
Not I,
Not me!
In the words of Peter Pan, “I won’t grow up. Not me!” I’m serious about this.
So, I’m 54 and I refuse to grow up. It doesn’t seem interesting and pleasant to be a real adult. Actually, it seems just too darn serious and hard.
I have a friend who told me I’m 10 years away from depression. He said that I’m 10 years away from not believing in God and I’m ten years away from being a generally miserable person…like everyone else.
WHAT!?
I can’t accept this. I refuse to accept this. I think my friend needs to play with a yo-yo or eat some toasted marsh mellows. It sounds to me like he needs to play with something, anything childish.
This is where I throw the immaturity towel at him.
If you think back to when you were a child, so much “stuff” didn’t bother you. I purposely use the word stuff so as to reference a lot of adult issues a child wouldn’t understand. As a child, hopefully, you weren’t aware of many serious adult issues.
I have memories of playing in the snow and not realizing how cold and wet I was until I went inside the house. I have memories of not even understanding the changing of the seasons. Now, I am pending my spouse’s seasonal weirdness with the coming of November. Oh, joy!
I remember riding my bike and listening to Steely Dan on the radio:
Are you reelin’ in the years
Stowin’ away the time
Are you gatherin’ up the tears
Have you had enough of mine
Just riding my bike in the sun and listening to the radio. Simply, simple.
So how does one ward off the pending gloom that surrounds adulthood? How do we reclaim reelin’ in the years?
My suggestion…”Screw Maturity”. That’s right, don’t grow up. Stay immature and child-like.
How does one stay immature? Embrace childhood happiness and simple joys.
Where do I start with this?
Halloween is the first stop in my attempt to not grow-up. I will be wearing a costume on Halloween. Every year I wear a different costume. I can’t divulge this year’s costume as I’m sort of in a competition with another friend who also wears a costume on Halloween. Costumes are fun, silly and child-like. I love to hand out Halloween treats at my home wearing a costume. I smile all day long as I tune into the childish-cord in my body. I feel young, silly, happy, and playful again.
Next…embrace the joy seasonal holidays bring. Next on the list are Christmas, Hanukah and other holidays. This is the time of year when giving is so needed. Find something to give, anything. You can give things that you don’t need or use anymore. You can give your time. You can make or bake something and give it. The more you give, the more you will feel wonderful about yourself.
How’s about giving with antlers on your head? Funny! The dollar store specializes in these kinds of items.
Making people laugh will make you laugh too! Silly breeds silly. Be that silly soulful inner child. Trust me with this idea.
Is it someone’s birthday you know? Send them a funny, ridiculous card and put something child-like in it. I have a tendency to call some of my friends or family on their birthday and sing Happy Birthday in my best (worst ever) Marilyn Monroe voice. Again, trust me when I tell you that me singing is always a funny, actually, more so a painful idea.
Play with toys. Sing silly songs. Eat breakfast for supper. Take a super big bubble bath. Eat a banana split. Read children’s literature. Buy a balloon. Eat some candy. Watch a children’s show or a movie such as The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and The Wizard of Oz. Build a Lego set. Play in the playground and swing on the swings. Squish some clay and make something with it. Be a kid again!
Take off your watch and just let your mind and soul float back to your youth.
If you stay young at heart, you will stay young in your mind. READY? 1, 2, 3 … YOU’RE IT!!!!
Suzanne Reisler Litwin is an instructor at Concordia University in The Centre for Continuing Education – Communications Department. She is a writing instructor at The Cummings Centre. She writes a weekly column in The Suburban Newspaper and at the West Island Blog. Suzanne is a freelance contributor to The Suburban Newspaper, West island Blog, Wise Women Canada, The Metropolitain, and Women on the Fence. She is the author of the children’s book, The Black Velvet Jacket. Visit suzannereislerlitwin.com
to read more of her published articles, books, and poetry.