In Over Your Head

Every Day is Childhood

My favourite album from childhood is Paul Simon’s Graceland.

I remember the exact moment my parents bought it. It was the first album I ever knew all the lyrics to, the first album I fell asleep to, night after night, probably for years. It had a heavy influence on the way I see music. When I hear it, even now, the feeling I from childhood have doesn’t change.

Last week I downloaded an album that my friend Kat told me about: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It’s so great. It may have the potential to become something I listen to over and over, who knows.

Childhood is a time when we are invented. We’re pretty vulnerable and new, and easily influenced by everything around us. What I wonder is why we can’t recreate a childhood for ourselves, again, right now. Why not try new things, or reinvent ourselves entirely? It’s not like we’re not allowed.

We largely end up deciding who we are by our twenties, but I just got through those and I don’t want to be done. Do you? I’d like to keep progressing.

Who’s with me. 🙂

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10 responses to “Every Day is Childhood”

  1. John McLachlan Avatar
    John McLachlan

    I’m with you on this. I’m just about done with my 40s and the challenge of not getting stagnant and boring increases with each year. It means you have to keep remembering to be like a child (not all the time, maybe), but for periods of time, regularly.

    I’d love to hear from those who are a decade or two or three or four older than me, but I’m starting to see that as I get into the middle of middle-age, I’m starting to care less what others may think which could end up being a great thing for bringing out the inner child me.

    Reply
  2. Alice Avatar
    Alice

    It’s funny it took me a few minutes after I read this, but I just realized that I address this in my bio on my blog… {girl vs. grownup}. I definitely still feel like a kid at heart. Happy New Year!

    Reply
  3. Taylor Davidson Avatar
    Taylor Davidson

    I’m with you 🙂

    Reply
  4. Brian frankson Avatar
    Brian frankson

    Much like in the movie “groundhog day” where the main character stuck in the same day over and over he reinvents himself everyday to finally become the person he wants to be. At that point is free from his trapped world.

    I think that to be a person who re-creates themselves a new life or lifestyle. You need to harness 4 attributes;
    – curiosity, a wonderment of what is a round you and a willingness to learning
    – adaptibility, to new social groups and percieved risk, new formats of learning
    – non attachment, to outcomes, belongings, habits and addiction
    – acceptance of what is, No judgement of what is right or wrong lifestyle, job, or income

    easier said than done

    how easy would it be for Julien or yourself to re invent as a pharmacist or a drywaller.
    Breakdown mental rigidity – Iam with you

    Reply
  5. Tamsen Avatar
    Tamsen

    GREAT album. And since you love that one, give a listen to Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots by the Kleptones. 😉

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshimi_Battles_the_Hip-Hop_Robots

    Reply
  6. Antwon Davis Avatar
    Antwon Davis

    [“What I wonder is why we can’t recreate a childhood for ourselves, again, right now. Why not try new things, or reinvent ourselves entirely? It’s not like we’re not allowed.”]

    I love your perspective in these three sentences. I dream of a day where adulthood is no longer this boring acceptance of a reduced life, filled with misery and monotony. Where play and creativity are just as important as bills and responsibility. It seems that we allow the role of adulthood to suffocate the inner child in all of us. Imagine if we were free to just BE.

    Thanks for the post.

    Reply
  7. Alan Rae Avatar
    Alan Rae

    Well you just have to keep working at it – and if any one asks you to do anything mad – go for it.

    Last year I did several things I’ve never done before – completed a triathlon, played keyboards in a blues festival in Katmandu and delivered an academic paper at an entrepreneurship conference in Antalya.

    Just over 3 years ago we acquired a plant nursery through the expansion of one of our businesses and now we have created several more operations growing and selling organic vegetables plus the intelligent garden site. I’ve also been appointed horticultural workforce champion because of the conjunction between our growing business and the best practice case study work I routinely do in my day job.

    As you get older your work experience makes you more and more unique. So you get asked to do more interesting work.

    Take courage guys. I decided when I was 10 that if you played by the system’s rules you were going to lose. The rest of my life has been a successful struggle to avoid catching the 8.15 (or playing barre chords – but that’s a different conversation;) ) by earning a living doing what interested me. And I’ve run interesting businesses and worked on interesting projects since I left Uni in 1974.

    Not many people know that 8% of the people engaged in horticulture in the UK are over the age of 65.

    In just over 3 years I will be one of them. (62 next birthday)

    Just remember 60 is the new 40 – so let’s all go into Brighton and party – now, where did I leave the car keys?

    😉

    Reply
  8. Tanya McGinnity Avatar
    Tanya McGinnity

    You must watch Beautiful Losers if you haven’t seen it already. It’s so inspiring and speaks much to folks who have maintained a child-like sense of wonder and creativity.

    Reply
  9. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    I’m still trying to get over Graceland being from your “childhood”.

    That’s a great album, full of fantastic melodies, harmonies and polyrhtyhms. That has to be good for the brain.

    Reply
  10. Doug Haslam Avatar
    Doug Haslam

    It’s interesting that you reference the Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi in this post. That band is a great example of reinvention, or not getting stale. They started as a post-punk, can-barely-play-their-instruments group of weirdos, gradually (over years) refined their sound through lineup changes and better musicianship, and 2 albums after “Yoshimi,” regressed to a louder, stripped-down almost tribal sound with “Embryonic.” But it’s not a regression, it’s something totally new, and just as good.

    On the other hand, throughout the Lips’ changes, the “weirdo” image and the unique outlook on life and death they portray has remained constant. Change, but with a grounded center.

    Reply

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