I don't believe the good life could have been mine except for the grandparents I chose. They were not perfect by any means, but they were very intuitive. Somehow their parents, neighbors and peers did not discourage the imagination they were born with and they further developed it over the years. So we can say I am the child of imagination. All my grandparents married in their late twenties. During years of courtship they settled on matters of career, home life and common interests. By the first night of each honeymoon, both pairs had become passionate about raising the greatest children in the world. Both pairs succeeded. They later explained to their children why they were so successful as parents and created the same intuitive, imaginative, passionate children. They taught my parents that parenting would be the most important work they would ever love. They told them this work was hardly work at all when approached with care and imagination. They taught my parents all the things they don't teach in schools. They taught my parents there was one hundred times the satisfaction in loving babies as in conceiving them. That deeply ingrained belief makes all the difference. In passing on such great wisdom to the world, I write from a point of view that says life begins before conception. It begins when spirits come together long before bodies. Now I can know as a parent myself that it is parental attitude and viewpoint that creates the good life. Not only did my parents pass along the skills they learned from their parents, they improved and amplified them by discussing ideas they had before they married. They decided then that I should be one of the world's greatest parents. Their parents were pleased and enthusiastic, offering unconditional support for the idea. We now have six people agreed and determined to create the world's greatest grandchildren. I don't need to tell you how uncommon this is, even in the churches, where you would expect it to be fairly common. In fact, the churches were there to expand support to families. Government has gradually taken over that function and has never achieved a passing grade. Not in the schools and universities, not in public welfare, not in the day to day lawmaking. Instead we have instinctive parenting in a world where people have repressed their positive instincts, or had them repressed by their societies. Parenting became experimental by the fifties. It will take another fifty years before folks find the better ways. I'd like to speed that up some. My parents were not especially athletic but they had learned how to be and remain very healthy. Their very activities and behaviors were chosen. They were taught that sickly parents rarely produce healthy children and little will steal one's joy of life like illness. Due to both medical advances in the Twentieth Century and strong intuition, my parents had none of the illness my grandparents had known and were healthy in body, mind and spirit. My parents both understood long before marriage that both parents should be in peak health at the time of conception because this affects the pregnancy and health of the fetus. They already knew that a healthy baby is much easier to live with because they had known sickly babies. They knew if the experience was not pleasant in the early years, they would be less inclined to repeat the experience. They decided together that they would not engage in family planning until they could judge how they were doing as parents. By the time they married, they were not just ready; they were eager and excited about being great parents. A few months after my mom conceived me, I became aware that I was not alone. Somewhere out there was noise; some pleasant, some aggravating. Mostly, I was at peace and very comfortable. I really liked the comfort factor and took it for granted until there was a disruption. Sometimes I was cramped and found it difficult to move. Everything got very quiet and comfortable on a regular basis and I learned discomfort was always temporary. I had little cause to kick and thrash most of the time, so I didn't do either often. I think mom enjoyed my occasional love taps to let her know I was alive, awake and comfortable. I decided not to do them when everything was still and quiet. In a few more months I was distinguishing the sounds I heard. I really loved it when dad and mom were talking to each other. Somehow that was more comforting than when mom was talking to others. I did not hear dad as often as I would have liked and it seemed special to me when I did. We were all getting along so well, I had no complaint. I also noticed that mom made different kinds of sounds and it always got my attention when her voice changed. I would later learn those differences were between talking, reading aloud and singing. My preference was the reverse order. When she sang, I wanted to sing too. But I didn't know how and could not imagine how. I always believed that I would, in time. When mom read aloud, I liked that too. Sometimes it was like when she sang. She later told me that was called poetry. Later I learned that she read everything out loud, right down to shopping lists and personal correspondence. Even when she was just talking, I would listen. I did not know what I was hearing and somehow I sensed that if I just kept listening, it would begin to make sense and I would be able to make these sounds too. I just had to be patient and decided that was OK. From time to time, I heard mom playing piano and dad, guitar. Everything they played had an effect on me. If they played ballads I would nearly go to sleep. Sometimes I did. When they played up tempo tunes, I felt happier than usual. It was the same when they played the radio or recordings. I knew the difference and figured somehow others were performing things that made mom and dad happy. That was OK too. I liked it a lot whenever mom and dad were expressing joy and happiness. Once in a while the whole thing got a bit too intense for me, but it did not last so long I could not get to sleep. (PUBLISHERS! Free Promotion Here - Now! If you will leave a comment and your URL or hyperlink on this or any article of mine: 1.) Some of my on - site readers will visit your website. 2.) I will visit your website. If I like what I find, I will write a positive review and publish it here at EzineArticles. You may delete this generous offer when re - publishing this article.) |
