How many of us neglect childhood? Not as we're living it, after we've "outgrown" it. I suggest we're never past our childhood, and we need to focus on the advantage of being childlike—focused on fearless discovery and connection. That's very different from childish—focused on our own terminal uniqueness.
How many adults (especially in positions of implied authority) lose the ability to practice being childlike while clinging to childish behavior?
Wordsworth said, The child is father to the man.
Plato suggested, You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
Einstein called his method for discovery, combinatory play.
A child's span of attention oscillates between intense concentration and the explosion of uncollated discovery. What intrigues (and often frustrates) us about kids is their 180-degree shift from obsession to chaos. Since we learn 80% of what we know by age eight, maybe there's something to that ability to shift focus. We need to regenerate that flexibility—that attention span.
If you have small children—or were one—you can tap into a marvelous source of energy, candor, and agility by framing the world like a child. Your grown-up voice may be chiding, Oh, that would be immature. Nonsense. If you feel the need to push back against this idea, a dose of fearlessness might be in order. Being dignified is like being cool. If you have to think about it, you're not.
Too often we view a child's vulnerability as cause for alarm. As if we must protect them (ourselves, really) from disappointment and even discomfort. What if we realize that little kids are smarter than we are in lots of ways. They may not know as much, but their sensitivity to new insight leaves us stodgy by comparison.
I do my best work, my best writing and coaching, when I combine intense focus and fearless agility. I need to remember to learn from children. If we adults didn't control the purse strings, children would be running the world.
