Blog 735 – 08.27.2017
The Peter Pan Syndrome

There was a toy commercial that played a lot when my children were little that had a child singing, “I don’t want to grow up. I’m a Toys R Us kid.” Peter Pan, the child’s story about Neverland, Wendy, her siblings, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, Princess Tiger Lilly, the Indians, and the not so likeable Captain Hook, is a tale mostly about a boy, Peter, who never wanted to grow up. Many of us feel that way too, at least to some degree, we think ourselves forced to grow up by mounting responsibilities – car payment,  car insurance, living expenses, a job, a family, a home. Most of us would gladly face wild Indians, a hook-handed villain, and a hungry crocodile for the freedom and fun of a perpetual childhood in Neverland.

Jimmy Buffet, most famous for the Margaritaville song also wrote and sung many others. One of my favorites expresses the Peter Pan in most of us, the title says it all, “Growing Older But Not Up.” I have already in several blogs viewed being and staying young at heart as a positive in life but admittedly there is a negative to being unwilling to take on certain responsibilities of adulthood. One in particular to my mind is the care and feeding of one’s children and providing them with the best chance we can of having a full and happy life. They are counting on us to give parenthood our best shot. Those who choose to be forever Peter Pan should forego parenthood and marriage in my opinion. Both are difficult and challenging enough for functioning adults and often even they do not pull it off so well. Kids and ex wives quit yelling “Amen” I am not finished yet.

As a ten year old boy I saw the then newly released Disney animated Peter Pan. It was a  wonderful story and cast of characters but by far my favorite character was the lovely Wendy. She was the most sensible and mature and her heart had already grown big enough to know and love herself, her siblings, Peter and the Lost Boys and even her parents back home. Love is like that we cannot stay little children when we let it grow in our hearts. Peter Pan makes a great peanut butter but love spreads even better on the bread of life. I wish all of you, my friends, a big delicious slice.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White