Andrew: Wow.
What I am considering as I read these post that are well above my “pay grade” is just how much my naïveté was abused by the prevailing religion of my birth Situation…
I remember how much detail I would go into as a teenager. I have mentioned before that by the time I was late teens, I had a working knowledge of both ancient Hebrew and koine Greek, so that I might understand the sacred texts I was brought up to revere.
So there has always been an exhaustion in me.
I am however very pleased to recognise this. (link)
Hi Andrew,
While you contemplate “how much my naïveté was abused” it’s useful to remember that children’s naïveté is very closely linked to ignorance and gullibility, and this is precisely why it can and will be abused. In the now-adult mind most peoples initially have difficulty separating the one from another. Hence the sincere intent to imitate the actual (and not acting with impulsivity or licentiousness) is very important.
The naïveté you want to allow now needs to be combined with felicitous and innocuous adult sensibilities (naïve but not gullible), only then can you enjoy and revel in it to the point of gay abandon.
Richard: There is a marked distinction betwixt spontaneity and impetuosity (aka impulsiveness) … acuity and/or perspicacity, in the applied form of discrimination, discernment (as in being expedient, provident, judicious, prudent) in conjunction with pragmatism, practicality, sensibility, simplicity, and so forth, gives ready access for any introspective/ creative process to take place. (Richard, AF List, No. 103, 1 Oct 2005d)
The key to unlock naiveté is sincerity, naiveté being “that intimate aspect of oneself that is usually kept hidden away for fear of seeming foolish (a simpleton) … it is like being a child again but with adult sensibilities (wherein one can separate out the distinction between being naïve and being gullible/ trusting).” (Richard, AF List, No. 79, 7 Jun 2006).
Andrew: So, resurrecting a touch of that naïveté, I notice a recent development.
It’s a calm approach to decision making. Where there is a warm type of “bored” calm. An almost concussed calm. As if I am totally conquered by whatever it is I was fighting against, and now there is a series of considerations.
It’s enjoyable. There is no rush. Felt it many times recently. At the music store.
That is excellent. You have already experienced that you don’t need to be at the ‘beck and call’ of your passions and feelings, you can keep your hands in your pockets until they subside and then consider again.
You might discover and explore something similar to what Claudiu described in January this year –
Claudiu: The other wondrous recent insight was in seeing how I am actually not ‘special’ in that I am essentially the same as any other feeling-being out there. In terms of what I am at my core. In other words I don’t have to maintain or hold onto or try to prop up any aspect of myself that would set me apart or above anyone else – because I am the same at core! This is something I can’t change – I can only self-immolate to remedy this situation.
This was seen as an immense relief of a huge burden that I no longer have to maintain myself in all these various small ways. In other words I am free to do anything, and anyone is free to say or think or do whatever in response, and none of it matters in terms of me having to prop myself up or defend myself or do anything. Cause I already know I’m not special, there is nothing I can actually defend to change this fact! (link)
Naïveté, whenever it pops out – because ‘you’ allow it – can be cherished and appreciated and fully enjoyed – and it is infectious too. For fun and encouragement you can check out this message (link).
Andrew: The question of actual freedom, and being someone who may feel good through developing the ability to choose it, that is very interesting. (link)
Indeed, and the less you try to be someone but simply enjoy being here as happily and harmlessly as possible, the more it is happening of its own accord.
Enjoy your childlike wonder with adult sensibilities.
Cheers Vineeto