When I was 11 or 12-years-old, I was into deep sea diving. In our house.
Now, a skinny kid wearing a face mask automatically looks ridiculous. But it's even weirder when he's on the floor crawling on his belly pretending to be a frogman.
Yeah, that's what I was doing. Pretending to be former Navy frogman Mike Nelson who had underwater adventures every week that I experienced via the TV show "Sea Hunt."
My diving days came to mind after I read a short essay on social media. It was not clear who wrote the piece, but the message hit home. Listen while I share some of it:
"We are the last generation of American children who will ever know what true boredom felt like.
"We are in our fifties, sixties, and seventies. Our hair has grayed. Our bodies move with the careful deliberation that time requires. But inside each of us lives the memory of something that no child today will ever experience again. The profound, uncomfortable, creative silence of having absolutely nothing to do.
"We learned to create our own worlds. We built forts from couch cushions and cardboard boxes. ... We stared at clouds and imagined entire stories in their shapes. Boredom was not a problem to solve. It was the blank canvas where imagination learned to dream, explore, and become."
Well ... I agree. My imagination was plugged in a lot as a kid. And it still is. But … I also think it’s something in everyone ... that will never be shut off completely.
I’m Lonny Cain … and that’s my Perspective.
