He is not a kid on a table or a boy looking up at his Mommy for a hug.
He is Snoopy and he’s on his dog house and he can’t wait to fly a plane with a cape.
He is pawing at Charlie Brown, begging for a treat.
I’m Charlie Brown.
This is fitting because I have a really hard time figuring out how to grow up.
I trust Lucy over and over and end up flat on my back while she laughs.
I have the imagination of a child and sometimes, when I should sit up and learn something,
it’s like my teacher is going ‘wa wa wa wa wa waaaa.’
My brain is too busy to take these lessons to heart.
I’m always thinking, just like that boy of mine, never taking things at face value,
always digging deeper. And at the end of the day, we’re both terribly exhausted, the world finally dimming down, hiding at the loss of light, taking cover in the shadows.
The ‘wa wa wa’ becomes a slow and soft whiiir but never stops.
We rest fitfully, clenching and grinding and tossing and turning, vivid pictures dancing through our dreams, and then we’re up again to a world that’s blindingly bright because we take it all in, every detail, the slightest twitch of face easily read-she’s sad, the softest of sounds too loud, echoing.
We feel it all in the deepest parts of who we are until we’re too full to feel anything at all.
We are overstimulated emotion addicts gone dry.
I am so busy taking it all in and processing every part. He is so busy taking it all in and processing every part. He is perched on his red roof in the sun with eyes always wide open, not remembering to squint, and I am running and running and then kicking at a ball that isn’t there, up and over I go with a thud while the thoughts continue to swirl.
We are Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
“…and for you and myself I will pray, let our weakness become our strength.” – A lot like me by Sara Groves on her album Station Wagon-songs for parents
{ 21 comments }
Perfect. I feel the same. Exhausted at how their minds work, yet so proud of the way they do. We must always embrace the inner working of their minds and help them grow. Pretty easy task…
Sara,
and my mind works just like his and his like mine. He is just like me, so sensitive to all the emotion of life until he just can't stand the brightness, the level of intensity. It's hard work.
I can't even watch a Charlie Brown show and not cringe. I identify with him just too much.
(side note: I am getting soooo many spam comments. Is the word verification thing helping you? I simply hate those icky comments.)
Oh Heather – this is a good one.
"Overstimulated emotion addicts gone dry."
Great line.
I love these posts that shine a new light for me on a part of who you are. Have I told you that I like getting to know you?
Like uh, you? As in you?
And although Charlie Brown ends up flat on his back a lot of the time, he is also often the only character in that cast that illuminates the real truth of things.
So yep. You're Charlie Brown.
(Lee's comment just gave me goosebumps.)
And I get this completely. I've been there, for most of my life, really; and have only recently realized that somewhere along the way it did get easier for me to not be so affected. I still notice it all. (All.) But somehow I have learned when I need to don the armor and just notice without it seeping into my heart. (however then I sometimes feel guilty for not letting it affect me. we sensitive types can't win, can we?) ;)
Thinking of you, Charlie. <3
xo elizabeth
This is so lovely Heather, especially for this fellow trusting, metaphor-loving Peanuts fan.
Now you've got me wondering about who plays what role in my own life. (Luckily no immediate candidates for the role of Pig Pen leap to mind…)
I love it! Snoopy and Charlie Brown.. I can see it :)
That's exactly how I feel. Why do I keep trusting Lucy? Why does everything sound like a blur and even taking in the radiance and brightness and struggling to love being there sometimes…You just say it so right.
I have the Red Barron song in my head now ;)
"wa wa waaaa" is a sound I'm all too familiar with.
This was so lovely to read, Heather. There's so much from Peanuts that can be translated into real life, Schultz was brilliant, in my book.
What a great comparison and how true. We all need to be more like Snoopy and less like Charlie Brown. Life would be so filled with more joy.
I love this…great comparison.
Love it! You are one smart cookie!
Charlie Brown. That's it exactly. Going for that football again and again. I guess, in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather be Charlie Brown and keep on trying, although it is rather tough on the ole' back.
I'm raising one Charline Brown and one Linus. Not a Lucy in the bunch.
Thanks for this – it crystallizes a lot of things for me.
Beautiful.
-Ellie
Oh, I love Charlie Brown and snoopy. This is part of why I love being along with God. He slows me down, help me know my heart, and refreshes me. I need it so.
Charlie Brown is the one who saw the beauty in the dilapidated Christmas tree, the one who searched out the true meaning – how can that ever be a bad thing?
I'd like to think of myself as a Linus – eternally optimistic yet somewhat a sucker. Plus I would LOVE to carry around a blanket all day. That would rock.
Adorable Snoopy you have there.
I have a hard time growing up too. And I wouldn't change this for the world. But it is exhausting, deeply so. I so relate to the divine fatigue of playing and thinking and digging deeper.
This post? Metaphorical magic.
Let's always be kids, okay?
Beautiful! I love seeing the world through their eyes.
What a wonderful analogy!
Wow! Heather, what a beautiful picture you paint with your words. So vivid.
I like it!!!!!!!!!
I wish I had something more meaningful to say, but You write vividly for me and I FEEL what you are saying.
What a great way to put it!
Your "Snoopy" is a serious cutie!
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