The Nostalgia Behind the Mind of a Child

By: Olivia Delvalle

https://gracebythecup.com/seeing-color-in-a-black-white-world/

Childhood is a short period in time where an individual goes through one of the most important developmental processes in their lives. In those first few years, a child will be faced with challenges and experiences that will shape them into the person they become. Some people even go as far as to say they learned more from their childhood than they do from adulthood. This is because in the first few years of childhood you are building the fundamental blocks and foundation of both your present and future. 

Some of our biggest events are found in our childhood. From the very first steps you take to the ones walking across the stage at graduation. No event is too little or small in the concept of developing. It's a time to make mistakes, to take risks, to experience the new and explore the old. As we grow up and our childhood fades behind with the rest of our milestones, we often reminisce about those years. People often wish to return to those times where life was “easier or simple”. Times where we were not consumed by the ugliness of the world and only saw it for its true beauty.

A child is defined as someone from the ages of 0-18 in a legal aspect. However if we carry our childhood with us as we grow, do we truly stop being a child? Or do we blossom from a mindset and gain knowledge while still remaining that same childlike persona? 

The way children see is something so beyond imagination or dreams, it is reality, possibility, and opportunity. Those who choose to grow up too fast or not use childhood to their full advantage are often the ones who regret it the most. They are the ones who live in the past, the ones who see the world in gray, and the ones who follow behind the rest. For the people who see the world through the lenses of a child are the ones who truly make the best of their lives. They are the grownups who still watch movies, the ones who live inside books, the ones who fill their lives with color, the ones who enjoy the outdoors, and the ones who know to take chances.

People often think if you act like a child it means you are unable to be mature or you're ignorant of society. However, that isn’t always the case. Those who choose to not hide behind society's standards of how a person should act after the age of 18 are the most mature and intelligent of them all. The ones who choose to hide lack a sense of creativity, ambition, and sometimes even kindness. The absence of childlike traits can often be the same ones that help solve the most strenuous problems.

Sometimes the people who see through a childlike mindset are often those who we least expect. They are the creators of movies, books, paintings, and plays. They can also be the entrepreneurs, leaders, lawyers, and doctors who aid our society every day. They don't have to be the pessimistic concept and connotation we associate with people who carry their child like selves with them. Rather they are everyday people who choose to not hide or fall into order. They instead express themselves by helping others and living in a growth mindset.

In the end, the question is: Would you rather be the person who only sees the world for its ugliness, never breaking society norms, and just following in line? Or will you be the person who creates their own way of living life, with a mindset that shows who they are and what they are capable of?