the dreams of children...

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights...

~ Dr. Seuss


Carl Jung claimed that the dream symbol of a child is a motif for the forgotten things in our childhood. For example, your dream may be telling you that you've forgotten how to play or should take a more innocent, carefree attitude. A couple of nights ago I dreamt of myself as a little child playing in the living room of my grandmother's house sitting on the floor playing with crayons. A couple of scribbles on the paper and some on the floors. I watched this scene play out in my subconsciousness for what seemed like 15 seconds (but what role do temporal planes have in dreams in any case). The symbol of me as child represented the infinite possibilities of youth. It paves the way for future changes in the personality and the child may represent the part of you that needs reassurance and security.

What are told as children (for the most part although there are definite cultural and gender variations), that we will inherit the Earth and once this time comes we will all become the most wonderful visions of our imaginations. We can be doctors, and leaders, teachers, or astronauts seemingly without limitation or impediment with the right work ethic and channelled determination. But at what point do we start to deter our children from their dreams. At what crossroads of our lives do we go from children with the world in our hands to adults who are incapable of anything, adults who will not amount to anything, adults who are told to give up every occasion they possibly can because in this world their skin color is too shade too dark for dreams so big. But it is bigger than color, or race, gender or socioeconomic status, society generally frowns upon occupations that are unconventional or deemed too lofty for those born without gilded spoons and trust funds. And our parents... our parents merely recount their own failures and superimpose them on our own dreams when they tell us to choose a "safer" occupation.

I am an academic/scholar/and an artist, which means that I am one-part consumer of knowledge and two-parts it's creator. There is a reason that intellectuals like myself are the first to be made to "disappear" in repressive regimes and our voices made to be silent. In everyday life, where dilemmas are sometimes solved by the most surprising new propositions; many artists, philosophers, and even scientists owe some of their best ideas to inspirations . . . from the unconscious. We are the antithesis of the trained indoctrinated soldier adherent to established ideologies, I seek knowledge and inspiration that same way that I child chases butterflies through fields not giving a damn about private property laws. I pledge allegiance to positive energy within the sovereign state of 'My Being'. That's all for now, am off to paint a couple of canvases to the dismay of my parents. Much like the actions of a child.