Ach Ees, Daiy
For only a short time do we live in a world truly of our own creation. Not just living in that world, but unconscious of our insulated reality.
Unspoiled. Young. Speechless yet speaking.
We who have mastered the necessary tools of communication hear words we don't understand.
Are they even words?
Does it matter?
This is the language of a human being yet to comprehend the concept of words. A language saturated with vowels grounded by deliberate, harsh consonants.
Because we do not understand it doesn't dismiss its relevance as a language all its own.
We struggle to comprehend because we are limited by convention.
But he is not. Every invented word has its useful meaning, irregardless of the expectations imposed on him.
One day, order and compromise will prune out invention. His unique world -- and his unique language -- will be lost. He will struggle, like us, to commune once again with it.
Until then, he speaks the tongue of a world with its own laws.
There are none.
11 comments:
Sometimes I wish I were back in that world.
I yike it, Daiy.
That face alone could inspire anyone to try to crack the code.
When I was younger I used to love a spot in my old house where the light flooded in. I'd just lay there in the light...
Being THAT young was so awesome. I don't get that feeling anymore.
rusty, i get it whenever i see one of those big whirligigs spinning in the wind in someone's yard. i don't know why.
thanks, jay. i never write about my youngest son. he's got an interesting little world going on.
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Since you have an older child you may understand this or is it just me but after waiting for so long for them to talk so you can understand every word,when they get older there are days you just want them to be quiet.
Eric - I hope thou shalt refrain from getting stoned while watching Baby Genius's 2 in future!
in a way, yes, mainiax. they can ask you so many questions you end up saying yes to something you aren't sure you're saying yes to.
that's far outweighed by the newness of what they say. the inventive ways they explain things. i think that's kind of my point: i'm in no rush for him to learn to speak like us. he's our youngest and the last we'll have, and we have to fight not letting him grow up.
spo, how did you know my boys were baby geniuses? ;) they don't get it from me.
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Yes they have their own language and then we tell them "no" thats not right. Who says? Who made up these rules? Rules are meant to be broken!
it's also worth noting the innocence in the face of such a young child.
a child looking at a camera at that age is probably thinking, why's that dude holding a box in front of his face, is he playing hidey-boo?
only it would probably sound like, in his thoughts, och aye, dirym aiey asda dlalas samby.
dan, i'm glad you said that. it could be the case that there is no language going through his head. wouldn't it be great if we knew? if we knew that his efforts to speak our language were a way of limiting himself? you know, people who do that meditation stuff are probably trying to clear their mind of words and anything else like that. i bet the youngest of children already do that instinctually.
cori, you're right. which is why i think we should make up our words regularly. defy convention for invention! i think i posted somethign about that on dan and i's "just language" weblog. it's linked to the right.
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