We went shopping at Vivocity – the largest retail mall in Singapore to date. (http://www.vivocity.com.sg) Here I was pushing Caden in his pram and walking along a crowded corridor outside fashion brands such as River Island, Gap, CLUBMARC and so on. A man in his late thirties dressed in jeans and white shirt walked towards us in the opposite direction. He was looking at the floor before he noticed Caden’s pram and he slowly lifted his gaze.
The neutral expression on his face turned into a warm smile when he saw Caden. Then his smile frozen and quickly turned into a defensive mask when he realized the baby’s father was noticing his face expression all this while.
It makes me wonder: Why do adults put down their defenses in front of a baby and quickly become guarded confronting another adult? What had happened as we grow up that made us build this imaginary wall around ourselves?
One thing for sure, we lost our innocence as we grow up. Perhaps, we have been hurt in the process. We realized that the world is not as pretty as what it seems. People can be nice and cruel at the same time. After we learnt about the hypocrisy of human nature and how selfish a person can get, we have lost our spontaneity and childlike curiosity.
Is that a good thing or bad? Perhaps a more relevant question is: Are we happy with what we have lost?
Maybe if I had smiled back to the gentlemen who smiled at my son, he would continue smiling at me too? Yeah, I was not smiling then. I was too proud of the fact that my son had brought down his defenses. My son is cute, huh? I continued with my stern expression. Oh no, you have misunderstood me, I love you smiling at my son.
Maybe that’s why we need babies. We need them to remind us where we come from, what we have become. We need them to remind us to ‘un-guard’ ourselves once in a while and be spontaneous.
So the next time you see a baby, it is okay to let your guard down and say hello. For a simple reason that that will make you happy. And if you don’t want to smile at the father, it is okay too. But retaining that innocence and warmth a little while longer will definitely make this world a better place. Especially when you see Caden and his father. And I promise I will smile back to you too. Cheers!
The neutral expression on his face turned into a warm smile when he saw Caden. Then his smile frozen and quickly turned into a defensive mask when he realized the baby’s father was noticing his face expression all this while.
It makes me wonder: Why do adults put down their defenses in front of a baby and quickly become guarded confronting another adult? What had happened as we grow up that made us build this imaginary wall around ourselves?
One thing for sure, we lost our innocence as we grow up. Perhaps, we have been hurt in the process. We realized that the world is not as pretty as what it seems. People can be nice and cruel at the same time. After we learnt about the hypocrisy of human nature and how selfish a person can get, we have lost our spontaneity and childlike curiosity.
Is that a good thing or bad? Perhaps a more relevant question is: Are we happy with what we have lost?
Maybe if I had smiled back to the gentlemen who smiled at my son, he would continue smiling at me too? Yeah, I was not smiling then. I was too proud of the fact that my son had brought down his defenses. My son is cute, huh? I continued with my stern expression. Oh no, you have misunderstood me, I love you smiling at my son.
Maybe that’s why we need babies. We need them to remind us where we come from, what we have become. We need them to remind us to ‘un-guard’ ourselves once in a while and be spontaneous.
So the next time you see a baby, it is okay to let your guard down and say hello. For a simple reason that that will make you happy. And if you don’t want to smile at the father, it is okay too. But retaining that innocence and warmth a little while longer will definitely make this world a better place. Especially when you see Caden and his father. And I promise I will smile back to you too. Cheers!
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