imagine all the people . . .living for today

yes, this is me in a really horrible bikini and floaties

 

I was sitting at the pool today wishing I was a kid again: remembering how easy it was.  First of all, here I am at a pool and there are about 8 other people just laying out.  No one but me is swimming.  Remember when you went to the pool and you just played around?  I would spin around in circles, and have underwater tea parties.  We would jump off the diving board a hundred times, play sharks and minnows, and time each other to see how long we could hold our breath.  Those were the good days.   When friends were those kids down the street with the busted knee and the cool bike with ribbons and a bell.  What changed, and why does it suddenly matter so much what other people think?
I wish I could go back to being 10 sometimes. I wish that it was as easy as asking, "hey, wanna be my friend?"  What I really wonder is why can't it be? Why do we have to make it so hard on ourselves, on each other.  Imagine a world where we all looked at each other through the eyes of a child.  Imagine if we laughed out loud at the things we thought were funny and if it were ok to cry when we were sad or hurt, and if it was ok, really ok to want your mommy. 
It makes me sad that we are all so jaded and so shut off from each other.  We live our lives in this shut in world where we are so disconnected sometimes even from ourselves. So I say let's go back.  Let's reach out.  Let's have fun.  And remember that it's ok to love, even if it means you might get hurt.