What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

Just got back from a walk. Lesson learned: make sure the little bean is fed before venturing too far from home. We stopped on a park bench near the lake, had some lunch, and Elliot figured that he wanted to have lunch too. Well, all hell broke loose and the little guy screamed and wimpered throughout the speedy fifteen minute walk home. We were hasty. We left the house without proper timing.

I learned something else: selfishness is immature. Obsessing over one's own needs above all else, the inability to empathize, the lack of awareness of other consciousnesses, is simply immature. It's OK for Elliot, because he's only two weeks old. But, what of people in their thirties, forties, and beyond who are still incapable of acknolwedging the existence and sovereignty of others? They've never grown out of that primal impulse for self-preservation. I think Elliot has taught me more about adults than he has about children. He's the ultimate anthropological subject - a true human "native."

But I excuse my son for his selfishness. After all, that focus on self-preservation is certainly what has secured the persistence of humanity. But interestingly, the inability to grow out of that self-preservation instinct will surely be what destroys it. I hope I can teach my son one day what he's just taught me.