Cracked Pot Meditations – Inner Child

Meditation for February 22nd

Inner Child

A lot of us take the world very seriously. We work hard, and we see play as a luxury for the rich and/or lazy. Sometimes our therapists and spiritual advisor tell us to get in touch with our inner child so we can return to that stage of innocence, playfulness, and curious childlike wonder. For some of us, we were robbed of a childhood, forced to grow up fast, so getting in touch with an inner child means allowing ourselves to be childlike for the first time. For others, it is refusing to grow up.

The first thing you should do is realize that children are needy, thoughtless idiots. Lose touch with that little twerp. Instead, get in touch with your inner old man.
Standing at your front door with your pants jacked up to your nipples, wondering what the heck the neighbor cat is really up to. You walk the fine line of wisdom and a dementia induced insanity. You keep everything you might need in all your pockets. You get to have a childlike wonder mixed with a been-there-done-that mentality. People don’t expect much from an old man, so manners and etiquette aren’t necessary.

Children have no experience. The farther back you go, the smaller your world is. Not having the shiny thing at the supermarket is the end of the world for you. The smaller the world you live in, the more important you think you are. Children think they are the most important person in the room. An old man knows just how insignificant a human is in the vast universe, but chooses to ignore the hugeness of the world around him to be a butt head to make a point.

Is the fool a young innocent person trying to discover the world for the first time, or is the fool an old man bumbling around at the twilight of life, knowing that everything is absurd?

Prayer

Odin,
with your one eye and raven,
help me forget my youthful ego,
and learn to keep mashed potatoes in my breast pocket.
Give me the power to be obsessed with what the neighbors are up to,
The ever-changing is in traffic patterns,
keeping an eye on the weather,
and sleeping with my mouth open, pointed at the ceiling, making an orchestra of gurgling snores.
Shake off the need to dress hip,
or have any idea what music people are listening to,
But those darn kids off my lawn!
Amen.

Craft

Things that go into your pockets:
Pocket knife
A rock or two
Pen or stubby pencil
Pad oA padaper
Wallet full of useless receipts and,y, business card, and some notes. Wallets should be no thinner than 3 1/2 inches. You may keep your wallet in any pocket, but bonus points for the breast pocket.
Glasses
Handkerchief
Nail clippers
Hard candy
Lose lint and hard candy wrappers
Loose food
Money clip
AA coin and or lucky poker chip
Two-dollar bill
Loose change equaling $10 or more. The fewer the better.
Some other currency coins. Especially from countries you never been to
Mini flashlight
Yo-yo
Favorite Bazooka Joe comic
Old Reader’s Digest bent in half and stuffed in the back pocket, ready for bathroom breaks on the move.
Crow feather
Extra underwear – for obvious reasons.

Goal

Losing the need for attention and the approval of others is what being your inner old man is all about. It doesn’t matter what gender you are; the inner old man is an attitude and philosophy we can all adopt. Study old men if you have a hard time knowing what to do. Go to the hardware store all the time and befriend everyone who works there. Wink a lot. If people bother you, shit yourself. Get lost. Be easily confused. Tell people, whether they want to listen or not, how things used to be. All things cost too much. Yell when you are on the phone. The point is to be insane, and remember, you might be acting like a fool, but the joke is on them. An old man doesn’t care anymore.