It seems mysterious to me how older people can get such a lift from just seeing younger people. The lift feels immediate and visceral. I don't have to think about it or try to download their energy and spirit into me. I admit the effect doesn't happen all the time. Another couple at a restaurant table where both are on their phones ignoring each other and their own kids doesn't give me a lift. But when I see devotion, sacrifice, patience and forbearance, I get a lift. I feel more patient and devoted to others myself.
Think about Christmas. Grandparents enjoy the thrill of getting a new doll or set of Legos through the child with the delighted smile. Sure, we know that the thrill is temporary. We know that all thrills are temporary but the height of delight jumps from that person into us in a silent and invisible spark. The world seems brighter and more fun and more promising to us even though we won't play with the doll or the toy.
It is a sort of emotional cannibalism, really. We swallow bits of their joy and thrill, giving our own hearts some of that emotion, too. We aren't dependent solely on the young for good feelings. We do have some of our own and also get them from other sources besides younger people. Still, unwrapping Christmas presents or being part of a audience at a wedding resets our harmonies with the world and our lives. Maybe not cannibalism. Maybe more like that synchronizing jolt the doctor gives to a heart to re-set its rhythm and timing. We don't want the dolly and wouldn't play with the Legos but we are reminded of the joy of new possibilities and the fire that flares up when important achievements and milestones are reached.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
