Innocence

Take a minute to clear your mind and focus on that one innocent person in your life. You know, the friend or family member that hasn’t been corrupted by the world. That person who lives a happy life in ignorance. I’ve got a friend like that, who shall remain nameless. They have a happy family that spends time with each other and jokes with each other. They haven’t seen the evils of the world. To be cliché, ignorance is bliss.

Anyways, the reason why I bring this up is because I witnessed ignorance while I was out tonight. I was at a family diner and in the booth next to me there was a couple in their forties who had a child of about five years old. I wasn’t eavesdropping or anything but I overheard the name ‘Osama’ and kind of started listening. The kid heard the name, Osama, and immediately started comparing it to the name, Obama. “Obama. Osama. Obama. Osama.” The parents told the child that they were very different people. The kid knew about Obama but he asked who Osama was. The parents told the boy that he was a very bad man who killed a lot of people and that our military killed him. There was a pause and then the boy changed the subject. He hadn’t the slightest clue about any of that.

That’s innocence. Some would envy that. Many people think they’d rather have a life full of happiness. They don’t realize that they would not be who they are without the bad times in their lives. The hard times and adversity in our lives create our personality and teach us how to act.

I wouldn’t say I envy my nameless friend. I can’t call it envy, what I feel. I honestly don’t believe there is a name for such an emotion. I know for certain though that I wouldn’t tell the events in my life to this friend because they wouldn’t understand. They would have no comparison. I honestly think that their mind would be ruined by such ideas.

So if you believe that ignorance is bliss, it may be, but look at who you are and then tell me you want to be ignorant.

(Original Post on May 3, 2011 at: http://dft.ba/-BSMeyers24 )