uninhibited

Earlier this week I spent 48 hours straight at the beach with my best friend and her three children, ages 8 months, 5 and 8 years. Despite their frequent tantrums and outbursts into tears for no significant reason, their youthful vigor and purity created a pretty refreshing influence. Because children have not yet been tainted by the ills of society, their outlook on life is carefree and uninhibited. As we become older, our behaviors and attitudes are influenced by our surroundings, namely our classmates, friends, coworkers, and overall societal paradigm. In American culture, there are so many distractions and unhealthy influences which can easily inject corruption into the minds of youths during their ascent to adulthood.

While the baby was still grasping for his mother and filled with wide-eyed wonder every time I came near, and the oldest daughter was pretty confident in her own right, the middle daughter was the one who provided me with the most sincere fascination. During our daily walks along the boardwalk from the hotel to the beach, or the hotel to various shops and restaurants, this beautiful child made a habit of stopping every 10-20 yards along the way to investigate something. Although this delayed our arrival or added to the already reasonable trek distance, her enthusiasm for discovery became less of a nuisance and more joyful with its increased frequency. She would stop to look at plants, analyze people, or touch something unknown.

I began to join her on her quest for uninhibited adventure. One of her favorite people was a young man on a trick bike, doing spins and balance poses at the end of a cul-de-sac. We stood in amazement as we watched him "perform" for us for several minutes. She also took kindly to the bums with guitars, and each time she saw someone with a trick bike or a guitar she assumed they were the same as the previous person who had been doing the same, the day before or in a different spot. The most fun was when I decided to go into the ocean with the girls, after they were covered in sand from building various tunnels and castles. Pacific Beach seems to have the most seaweed of any beach I've visited in the world, so I decided to exhibit creativity in our adventure. After entering the salty sea, I found some seaweed which looked like a fashion belt. I wrapped it around my waistline several times, with an accent piece around my neck and ran around telling everyone on the beach that I was a mermaid. After I noticeably frightened some onlookers, I concluded that I was actually a monster rather than a mermaid! Titles aside, my uninhibited enjoyment of nature led to spontaneous costume-making and an exciting time with children and good pure fun. Since that day, I have incorporated some level of this inhibition into my regular interactions with friends and strangers alike, and has made for a pretty enjoyable outlook on life.