Newborns and Our Return to Innocence

The birth of a child often brings back memories of deep love, belonging, and the innocence of entering the world with eyes wide and mind open.

Indeed, what a child witnesses in first light is a completely new experience with absolutely no frame of reference. Shocking in many ways, I'd expect, but not its first experience at processing the feels of its surroundings. That's been going on for months in a functional way.

But now, the lights glare, the curtains (or in this case, the carrying body) has been opened, and the MC in the room announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, we present for the first time ever, Baby!" And then, for people as old as I, they slapped our bottoms. If that isn't love...

Its visible and bodily reactions are completely responsive to primal instinct, despite what the aunt says when it smiles at her. "Look! She loves me." It may have been that the complex waveform of her voice, layered with intonation, or the visible spectrum may add a level of comfort that is appealing. Or it may be poop. It really doesn't matter, for we are all thrilled to see joy in its eyes. It is bonding. Feeding the unconditional love we want to project on its innocent mind.

We also know that there will be equal moments of discomfort as the experiment of growing as a human begins. The parents will initially embrace these as the ebb and flow of the baby's evolution, and that their selfless love will embrace it all. Later moments may need caffeine, cushy chairs, and other infusions to carry on. In truth, the raising of an infant is an exercise to reflect upon our own growth and maturation process. That will compel us to clear the path and stave off the rockslides that may impede its growth. Clothe them in outfits so protective that it will look like a South Park kid. They won't be able to move, but they'll be safe!

But for now, the moment is all that matters. The little hand that cannot even encompass a finger yearns for and receives connection. Safety. Trust. Love. It doesn't know boundaries yet, because it hasn't had to deal with any, but it will look to the humans around it for those lessons. And if it is surrounded by enough others and moments with those same foundational abilities, it will embrace them wholly, challenge them lovingly, and give back openly.

Maybe then, the birth of an infant is also our calling to remember why those traits meant so much to us. Still do, so that when the complexities of life try to strip any of those away, we refuse. We fight for what matters to keep our foundations strong, and align with others of similar values to us, to humanity, and to our best future.

Isn't she adorable?!