I'm not gonna dip my toes in here, the water temperature is fine, no matter the temperature.
If Freud is correct in his conclusion that the 'civilized' (and, in his eyes, to an extent, neurotic) adult internalizes the authority figure, therein referred to as the superego, then inside, in our invisible selves, alongside the primal and naturally existing child, lives a parental essence. This essence is necessary in our world, in society. It is the voice that tells us to play nice after we've thrown sand into the eyes of that kid who tried to steal our doll (Barbie, GI-Joe; pick your side- and there goes another layer of identity). It is the impulse that, long after we've left the house and the kid-size sheets, gets us into the bathroom to 'go' before we leave on a trip (be it to the store or across the world), the same impulse that follows us into parenthood when we go on to spawn little versions of ourselves...The holographic effect is mind boggling when considering multiple generations and if you are lucky, you have grandparents or great grandparents to shed such perspective on the evolutionary journey to 'you'.
So if, as many gurus and teachings say, striving to live in accordance with the child inside us is the epitome of being true and right- the path to happiness, then this fax should help give us all some great guidelines, whether you're a parent, child, adult, teen, tween, or (wo)man-child. Children are so crucial, fragile, important.
My boss is Jewish and periodically gets Aish HaTorah's Shabbat Shalom Fax. Mazel Tov!!
Oh, you Jews...thanks for being, well, Jew! (ba-dum-chhhh)
So basically (ha), if we step outside of ourselves and enable the superego (parental essence) to treat our inner child as such ^, we should all be better off for it. And even if, by no fault of their own doing (blame communism, war, previous bad parenting, poverty, wealth, insolence, paparazzi, vanity, etc, etc, etc) our own parents may have been unable to provide us with the full scope of 'what children want', it's never too late to gift ourselves what we all deserve.
What's more, we'll then be equipped with the tools to treat those around us, child or not, with equal accord.
