Young explorers

Fantastic short films following toddlers who have just learned to walk as they explore their world.

We grownups get so scared on our kids' behalf. We teach our kids to be afraid, probably the least useful emotion after guilt and shame.

We're a society of terrified people with generally nothing at all to be terrified about, as compared to humans in history who could die from starvation, lack of water, disease, being eaten by an animal, or war with another tribe, any day or night.

Recently with my kids at a motel in California, we gave them their own room, and we took a room next door. Somehow that scared me, the idea that they were lying there by themselves. What if someone came in there, did something? But, honestly, what's the likelihood of that happening?

Sure, in our minds, anything could always happen. We make up scary stories and we use them to scare ourselves. I realized, it's not the kids that's the problem. They loved having their own room. It's the parents. We get scared, and then we start trying to control the kids so we don't feel scared, instead of just being there for that port of us that's scared.

The part of me that got scared is the part that's not scared of something happening to my kids, but other people being scared that something might happen to them, and then taking their fear out on me. I'm afraid of them. That's my fear. That little boy inside that's afraid of mom's or dad's is the boy I need to take care of in that moment. Not my real-life kids. They're going great.

Let's teach our kids to be less afraid than we are, shall we?

I think it's the only way forward for humanity. It starts right here, at home.

Via Kottke.