That Damn "Fence!"

Looking past the boundaries of Time & Death

Remember when… really remember when you were a child…

Hanging out in a schoolyard, or general playground?

You were on the monkey bars, playing tether ball, nose deep in the grimy sandbox. You, honestly, didn’t give a conscious crap about what others were feeling.

Oh sure, your 4 to 7-year-old self intuitively knew when somebody was odd, off, or different. But, still, you went about your play; your exploration, your discovery.

There may or may not have been a parental figure hovering around you.

If there were one or two close by, you probably reined in your rebel-like rowdiness a bit; your frenetic self.

If there wasn’t one in ear shot, well hell… you let yourself loose.

But, when do you think you were unconsciously feeling most safe?

Well, apparently published academic research somewhere (didn’t search for it) figured out that when a fence was around a playground (whether conscious of it or not), it impacted the behavior of us young whippersnappers.

Fence = feeling safe.

No Fence = looking for adult reassurance.

Kids, having imposed and reasonable boundaries, is one thing.

But, as adults, what / who is our metaphorical fence?

What really prevents us from being at ease as we go in and about our daily lives?

I know some folks, to borrow from Ben Franklin, would readily hand over their personal liberty, their responsibility of lifestyle and choices, to feel more safe.

Others understand that in outsourcing our feelings, our level of personal safety, to removed “authority,” we can easily go down a path of accepted un-freedoms over time (this .90-second video nicely summarizes why).

Maybe there’s a middle ground between the need for assured safety in order to believe in 100% freedom… and… the desire to shun anybody with a bent toward total self-reliance and responsibility.

What if, instead… there was much, much more focus on the individual study and understanding of Time & Death?

Would it really positively affect people’s psyche?

Would this level of expansiveness make the hypochondriac propaganda, the fear-porn, the group paranoia disappear?

I mostly have doubts.

But what say you?