My oldest was telling me about the big plans for the under-water camera liopleurodon he’s building. He was listing how was going to attach the flippers and he ended his description with “or verso verso”. I looked at him. I asked him what verso verso meant, explaining that I wasn’t familiar with the term. (Possibly it was a paleontology term that he had learned in the past 24 hours.) He said wasn’t sure. I asked if he meant vice versa and he said yup. I then asked if he knew what that phrase meant. He said nope. I laughed a deep belly laugh. He amazes me everyday with his attempts to grow up as quickly as he can while still clutching to childhood. He has been asking a lot of questions about what it’s like to be a grown-up. He’s at that stage where being a grown-up is so much cooler than being a kid. I explained to him that while being a grown-up has some fun parts, being a kid is the best. I also told him that while I may be an adult, I am not a grown-up. I am a sufferer of Peter Pan syndrome in a big way. I never grew up and motherhood helps keep it that way.
Yet I still progress toward self-actualization. I had a great conversation with my boss today about striking the balance between work and personal life. My quests for simplicity and grace are part of my quest for self-actualization. I look at it as a recurring quest. At different points in me life I feel I was self-actualized. For that time period I probably was as self-actualized as I could have been then, but the little spark of wisdom I have gained is that you have to keep moving forward. The level of self-actualization is always changing, always getting more complex. While I am blessed enough to have the lower levels basically squared away (physiological, safety, love & belonging), to me, the levels of esteem and self-actualization are constantly in flux. It’s like one’s own flux capacitor. One travels between different levels, times if you will, and so the quest continues.
All this from a discussion about vice versa.
ohbloodyhell8 