Do not bury the wonder and awe of it all

'The most sophisticated people I know -- inside they are all children, " observed Jim Henson, Mississippi's native son of the Muppets puppet fame.

Have you noticed adults who openly retain the curiosity, awe and wonder of a child are much more complex, interesting and lovable people?

I was the kind of child who enjoyed being around grown-ups as much as I did my peers, which, as far as my young self was concerned, allowed me to play in the best of two worlds. Even back then, I knew I'd never let the child in me completely grow up.

Obstruction

Sometimes, life-changing moments created personal dams, among them my father's death when I was a young teen, the Marshall University plane crash when I attended college there and Mississippi's all-too-familiar hurricanes Camille and Katrina.

But I'd eventually crawl over those dams and do my darnedest to reinstate the spontaneity, playfulness and creativity associated with unencumbered childhood. One example: When I realized the tribulations of Katrina stole my singing voice -- I no longer crooned in the shower or accompanied favorite recorded music -- I forced myself to start singing again.

The sound was more like croaking because of unused vocal cords, but hey, I was making music again. Truthfully, I don't hum and sing as much as I used to, and I'm certainly not as good as I remember, but I haven't stopped. That is the point. I'm that child in the class sing-along who belts out the tune, the sheer joy of singing overriding the potential embarrassment at being off key.

Expand your horizons

If we do only what we are perfect at, what a boring, unfulfilled life we'll have. Imagination and creativity should remain our playgrounds, but that will happen only if we don't let the child in us totally grow up.

Not all adults are children clothed in grown-up bodies. If you are an observer of people, you'll know that. The secret to a good life, I suspect, is having that balance of adult wisdom and child wonderment.

That theory was tested recently when my sister Estelle won a week's stay in Orlando and invited me and her best friend to play with her. It is the first non-working vacation I have taken in years and years.

Universal parks

We bought passes to Universal Orlando and its two themed parks, Island of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. We laughed. We screamed. We were amazed. We gave the child in us full rein. Now, if we'd only had the child's un-aged body, our poor feet and legs might not ache so much from walking and climbing. Oh, well, "You can't have everything," as my wise mom used to say.

The three of us are Harry Potter fans, of both books and movies. Universal Orlando has opened two Wizarding World parks that receive rave reviews for the state-of-the art 3-D rides that almost make-you-believe you are playing Quidditch with the Gryffindors, or escaping dragons in the Gringotts Bank vault. You can even drink Harry's favorite butter beer. Wow!

Super heros

More wows accompany the Spider-Man, Transformer, Jurassic Park, Shrek, Seuss and other characters from comics, books and movies brought to "life" in rides, mock-up villages and movie sets. The experience is difficult for me, a wordsmith, to put into words. Is, "It was fun!" too trite?

Children's tales

What I should explain at this point is I relish young people's books, tales and storytelling, and believe them to be no waste of an adult's precious time. That's because children's literature can spur a lifetime of imagination. I am an example of that, which I credit to parents who read aloud a wide assortment of fiction, fact and fairy tales from the time we were toddlers.

I hope you have the same lasting childhood enrichments, if not for yourselves, at least for your children and grandchildren. As Jim Henson also observed, "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending."

Kat Bergeron, a veteran feature writer specializing in Gulf Coast history and sense of place, is retired from the Sun Herald. She writes the Coast Chronicles column as a freelance correspondent. Reach her at BergeronKat@gmail.com or c/o Sun Herald Newsroom, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-45667

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Do not bury the wonder and awe of it all ."