There’s a sign over a doorway to the auditorium at Damian’s school that reads: “Youth is experimental.” Maybe they meant experiential. Maybe youth is an experiment. To those who are experiencing it, it often feels endless. Confusing, exhilarating, powerful, limiting. A state of being that transcends the reality of aging. A feeling of power that possibly covers up the insecurity of being small in a big world. In a world where the not-youth rule.
We went to a performance of the creative arts classes of first and second graders yesterday. They tooled the activities around a dramatization of Peter Pan. So there was acting, dancing, singing, violin playing, and a rhythm band (Damian’s group). The singing was excellent, very expressive, the best group performance yesterday. The other groups were very good, more “experimental.” Which in this case, I think means for us, as parents, friends, to be gentle in our judgments and generous in our guidance through the crests and dips of youth.
