The Hectic Adolescent

Tales of the Heart's Intimations : VII

He has a look of expectation on his face, sweet and wide eyed but in his mind is a machine so big as to process the huge amount of information he is witnessing in his young age. And he does get a lot of help.

In a young innocence of confessed not-knowing, the passions bring to combine with it, its heart. This includes the life giving impulses of the passions, always ready with suggestions of possibilities for the young mind of the child. This is experienced by the mind as grace, perhaps even from the most high.

Every event witnessed by the child is like a pebble tossed into this huge machine with an immediate response produced by the mind, whether or not the child fully understands the experience. In time, it slows to only its main concerns and this now appears to the child in the context of his contact with the early virtue of vast possibilities.

He views his mother as given to strong attachments over issues. His sister immediately affirms all experiences as being real and makes it look like she has a secret benefactor who helps her know. The father manages a strict decorum and will only deal with issues that are relevant to the life of the family.

The adolescent helps the others to be clear in their communication so that he may be clear about his own mind. In time, he marries and helps his wife be clear about her expressions of herself and to support her where necessary. Does he get a chance to grow up? Not if everybody in his environment continues with a need for nurturing, which the adolescent in the man is compelled to support, by the expectation he has created.

In most cases, the man continues as ' Peter Pan ' and hopes he'll get some time to himself to sort out his affairs. And quite often, he gets a break or he has to create the opportunity to do so.