15th April 2024

Big

It’s ironic that when you’re young, you long for the freedom to be grown up, but  upon reaching this epitomous age, you spend the rest of what’s left of your life trying to reclaim your lost youth – hence a growth industry in signs stating, “I can’t adult today!”

To an extent, this heretic viewpoint could be described as staring longingly out of your window at next door’s garden whilst consulting a Dulux paint colour chart!

Sadly, there are too few happenstances for the youth of today (and those of yesteryear), to temporarily switch bodies and experience what the other side of the fence has to offer, in order to learn that life moves pretty fast.

If we dont stop and look around once in a while  we run the risk of just passing through on our way to the grave – or our second childhood!

Adolescence can be both disorientating and illuminating. The transitional period of leaving one’s childhood behind brings with it a craving for independence and self-identity.

Most teens have a relatively egocentric perspective on life, and with this comes insecurity and feelings of being judged, leading to a move away from family relationships being the centre of the universe.

Whilst there are a plethora of freedoms that usually go hand in hand with being an adult (although I can’t think of any at the moment!), when we finally get to spread our wings, it doesn’t take long for us to realise that learning to fly means first having to learn how to safely fall!

Paratroopers and recreational parachutists alike learn special techniques by “jumping off of things” to ensure they are not injured upon landing.
In order for the parachutist to displace the accumulated energy of their body contacting the earth at high speeds, they do so by landing facing the direction of travel with feet and knees together.

The second that contact is made with the ground, the parachutist’s aim is to absorb the impact by basically assuming a tuck and roll technique.

“To be or not to be, that is the question.”
“Do, or do not, there is no try.”
“Stop, drop, and roll.”

Three different philosophies to live by, I’m sure you’ll agree, though whilst we can’t all aspire to be Shakespearen actors, little green Jedi Masters (or those of any size or shape in today’s climate of equality), or stunt actors with a penchant for being set on fire for a living, we can nevertheless gain valuable life lessons from “The University of Hard Knocks.”

Although the human brain has stopped growing in size by early adolescence – with the teenage years involved in fine-tuning how it works – the brain doesn’t finish maturing until our mid-to-late 20s!

The part of the brain behind the forehead, called the prefrontal cortex or personality center is one of the last parts to mature – this being what makes us uniquely human – and where we process moment-to- moment input from our surroundings and  integrate this new information based on past experiences.

Depending on these experiences, left or right brain dominance will prevail, either to logical tasks on the left, or creativity on the right. Though quite how this fits with the Stealers Wheels’ “clowns to the left and jokers to the right” I don’t know!

If our aim in life is to hit the ground running and be able to “KEEP ON RUNNING,” as Phil Collins so poetically puts it, then may I recommend Parkour – in which practitioners (called traceurs) attempt to get from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing feats of acrobatics.

It involves seeing one’s environment in a new way, and envisioning the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features.

“- Susan: I’m not so sure we should do this.
– Josh: Do what?
– Susan: Well, I like you, and I want to spend the night with you.
– Josh: Do you mean sleep over?
– Susan: Well, yeah.
– Josh: Ok… but I get to be on top.”

Big is a 1988 American  fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall  and stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a pre-adolescent boy whose wish to be “big” transforms him physically into an adult.

The film also stars Elizabeth Perkins,  David Moscow, JOHN HEARD (Cat People), and Robert Loggia.

“You can’t keep a kid from growing up. All a 13-year-old boy wants is a 13-year-old girl.” (ROBERT LOGGIA – MacMillan)

Being BIG isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, with a list of responsibilities as long as a giraffe’s neck and having to keep learning new skills without ever being shown how!

There is a reason why time goes quicker for us poor adults compared to children!

When we are young, we accumulate knowledge quicker, and as such, children’s brains can process more within the same time frame. Hence why the days appear to last longer the younger you are!

So, if you too wish to join my “Find Josh Baskin’s Zoltar Machine” club to undo the effects of ageing, click “like!”

Nic

14/4: WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
“Hooper’s vision left me looking like a battered, mangy old cat.”
(Dame Judy Dench)

15/4: WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
“I’m your best friend. What’s more important than that, huh?”