Babies and Brews | Day 99 of 100
4min read
Some moments completely alter your trajectory, your path or your outlook and your mindset. Getting a new job for example completely changes how you spend your time interacting with, where you spend your time, how you think and approach differing or similar situations. A bit like learning a musical instrument or a new language, your mind is opened or forced into using and strengthening alternate neural pathways.
Having a child though, in my mind, must be one of those key turning points. Even though you may have reconciled with the fact it is going to happen months in advance, when that newborn baby is in your hands and staring back at you I think a shift occurs. All of a sudden there is a vulnerable life for you to protect and nurture, not for the next few years like a new job, but likely for the rest of your life. It the ultimate challenge in so many aspects, and for sure it will be difficult, but with great difficulty comes great reward. You're now responsible for raising one of the most complex entities we know, a human being. Your success in this task, as that human slowly but surely becomes more autonomous under your guidance, is the greatest success we could ever hope to achieve.
Whilst you have a lot to give the child and rest assured it will take it, the child has so much to give back to you. They may not know it at the time, but they do. So cherish the journey, and cherish the process. Even in our modern world, it is the most ancient and primal journey there is, and that's what's real.
Congrats to my friends who's newborn arrived this morning.
In other news, there has been a dispute and backlash around some 'scandalous' comments I made in post 97. Typically I wouldn't get bogged down in such trivialities, but this subject is far from it. Playing into all the British stereotypes, I do enjoy a nice cuppa char. Believe it or not, there is a right and a wrong way to make a brew. There is removing the teabag before putting the milk in (the correct method), and then there are all other methods (incorrect, imposters).
To help educate the ill-informed, I have embedded a video below that should explain further. From the creditable and reputable British source, the BBC.