Besides fantasy and science fiction, I think curiosity keeps me young in my soul. As someone who loves nature, calls herself an animist, I see wonder running parallel with the brutality of nature. In other words, I love observing plants and animals, taking note of their unique qualities, but I understand there can be danger lurking underneath (I am not Snow White trying to pet a full grown male deer or touch certain plants because they are “pretty”).
I love science, magic and all the questions unanswered. And my curiosity battles with my anxiety, which I didn’t really start to develop until you guessed it- puberty. Story also allows us to ask questions, even if we are not into science, for example. It is the quality of curiosity, of asking why, of experiment and making mistakes and messes that helps us stay younger in our mindsets, at least in my opinion.
I have a deep love for fantasy stories, but I didn’t want to stay in a Neverland, Narnia, Middle Earth, etc over and over- I wanted to see what fueled it, its ecosystem, what could it become? Not for grown up colonizing capitalist reasons- but for the pure imagination of possibility. We have so many wonderful things in our civilization today due to someone dreaming with no profit or power motive- it started as just a pure exercise of imagination. Just as art can be untethered to grown up reasons and be enjoyable to make and appreciate.
Like you said, children see possibilities of fun, discovery and adventure. Grown ups see possible disappointments, liabilities, potential power plays and profit margins. Imagine a world where we let our inner child hold hands with the adult in all things we do.
As the Lost Boys cried in Hook,” “ Bangarang!”
And a side note, my 16 year old is playing Captain Hook in his theater class’s production of Peter Pan. So much fun to play the villain, isn’t it? I secretly loved being the bad guy when pretending with other kids.
