As a preschool teacher I loved the drawings that my kids did. They really are evidence that we humans can be creative, expressive, and fearless if we want to be. It's so sad when we lose those qualities because we are forced into "fitting" into a society that is pretty darned unhealthy.
The worst thing we can learn as we grow up is that things are "supposed" to be a certain way. We don't start out that way, but most of us are forced into believing this, and it does us a great disservice, because when reality hits, and things don't always turn out the way we expect them to, we suffer. If we can somehow communicate to our young friends and family the idea that nothing is absolute or perfect in this universe, I think we will find that they grow up to be far healthier and happier than they would if they were given the impression that the universe was a black vs. white or true vs. false kind of place.
One of the best lessons I ever encountered in my life was gained from reading a book on scientific/mathematical complexity and fuzzy logic. It taught me, literally, that the difference between day and night is relative.
It also occurs to me that all of those lovely brown bears are unique and all them are also the same, depending on how you choose to look at them. Sometimes you need to move in a little closer to see the unique or similar qualities, while other times the similarities and differences are obvious from far way. But always there are some similarities and some differences. So, while the non-traced bear may have many obvious special qualities that make her stand out from the crowd, she also has many obvious qualities that she shares with all her companions (being brown, being rounded, being two dimentional, etc.). It's good to be different and creative and expressive and it's good to share things with others too, like compassion, goals, health, and ideas.
Anyway, thanks for sharing (!) those lovely bears with us, Steve!
-Turtle
|