On de-educating myself

As I scampered along (see yesterday's post for explanation) on my mile-and-a-bit route this morning, I got to thinking about my 11-month granddaughter, who we babysat last night.

I find it fascinating, because at that age children know exactly what they like and what they don't like. They have none of the politeness that those of us who have been "educated" have, which often means pretending that you like something that you don't, just to keep someone else happy.

So, in many ways little children are much more honest and truer to themselves.

When my granddaughter likes what she's being fed, she opens her mouth for more or tries to grab the food herself to self-administer.

When she doesn't like something, she spits it straight out and wipes all traces of it from her mouth.

So you'd think that at the tender age of 11 months, that must surely indicate that children are self obsessed with no interest in what others think.

But my granddaughter is also highly skilled at creating rapport with others. If you cheer or clap when she does something, she smiles, laughs and does it even more.

She plays to and commands her audience. And yet, she is obviously not doing this from politeness or because she thinks she "ought to".

Maybe my education has taught me not to trust what I want and not to refuse what I don't want, and it's taught me to live my life doing exactly what I think others expect and want from me.

What if I were to de-educate myself to go for what I want, to refuse what I don't want, and yet still choose to have fun interacting with others when it was fun and made me feel good?

Now, that could be interesting.