On Awe and Youth

As children we see the world very differently. There is a sense of awe and excitement that comes with new experiences, new sensations, resulting in reverence for the beauty of world. Age dulls those feelings; they become rare, until we finally abandon seeking them out.

Experiences that resonated with us as children cease to hold sway for us as adults. And assuming those things have not been destroyed or replaced by time, when we return to or recreate, the mystique is gone, replaced with something else; usually apathy and disdain. 

Age has stolen from us the process of discovery.

The ability to extract amazement and wonder from has been supplanted by expectations, reason, and necessity. Our lives are routine, our days shorter, one year is much like the next, and the pursuit of happiness becomes a tedious exercise. 

When I witness children experiencing things for the first time, I see the spark in their eyes, that magic we have lost. Watching them absorb new experiences is intoxicating; it reminds me of my youth, where the simplest of discoveries had weight and importance; where cheap plastic is replaced by living dinosaurs.

I envy the way youth experiences the world.

I was surprised when I experienced similar feelings as an adult through a connecting with another person. The awe and wonder come from every word she said, and in getting to know her. But the relationship aged quickly, and the, and like the wonderment of youth, replaced by reality.

I had hoped that the feeling of awe would last forever, but instead I look back with apathy and disdain