Here’s a thought: maybe being a kid was pretty great for many not bc of magical childhood things but bc children are allowed to play, whilst adults have to be serious1.
For sure there’s times when children have to sit down and be quiet, but in my understanding of society, children can for the most part just engage in play: they can run around, jump, climb on stuff, be loud, be deeply immersed in their worlds, explore, be emotionally transparent, etc.
And they can do it either just by themselves or w other children. It’s generally accepted that children are going to be silly and do random stuff.
Meanwhile, adults are expected to be serious, to behave predictably, to be productive. And to some extend this is important in order to have structure, to build things, make progress, to have more reliance and predictability. But if seriousness as a means becomes an end, a target to optimize for, to sorta virtue signal how serious we are, we end up in a society and culture that’s preventing adults from getting an important need met.
As an analogue to SEZ’s, we have some Special Social Zones where some sub-cultures, groups and events (festivals, retreats, …) have carved out areas away from wider society where engaging in play is more possible. The 2 most normal ways to engage in playfulness as an adult are as a parent2 and in the “privacy of one’s bedroom”3.
Which is such a pity. Like, please engage in playfulness, joy, authenticity, and vulnerability with your kids and during sex, but also please don’t limit it to just those! There is so much fun to be had in mundane life!
A story of enticing others
The other day I was crossing an arched pedestrian bridge. It’s winter and the pavement along the railing got covered in an icy slipperiness, perfect for a run-up and sliding down the bridge.
I was on my way to somewhere, but this was so much fun I’ve went back up the bridge easily a dozen-or-so times. A little girl saw me and joined in, eventually her, presumably, dad did too to show her some things. At the end a queer looking 20-smth woman also gave it a try.
This was a great day.
Footnotes
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I acknowledge that children are also different than adults in other ways, e.g. they AFAIK don’t see risks as much yet, are usually much shorter and therefore their faces fall less distance, more squishy bones, still have a new set of teeth coming, etc. ↩
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or otherwise interacting w children, to some smaller extend also w pets ↩
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kink, etc. events go under sub-cultures, etc. away from wider society ↩