Lost Innocence?

Have we all lost our innocence? I am aware that people read others’ blogs, and to remove that from my mind, and write my blog with complete innocence is literally not possible. Writing for myself is not just the same. Does my blog reflect my thoughts with complete purity? Or do I interspace my thoughts with words that could gain public endorsement? Well, I just read about a theory that could provide answers to the above questions. A friend has written about this on his blog, and I could relate to it instantly. It’s the AFT theory. To make a short story long, it’s the Audience Factor Theory. To state the same in his own words, the AFT says we do a lot of things for the potential claps that we might get from the audience who might hear the story. He’s also spoken about the NFA syndrome, which most of us have. NFA is the Need For Acceptance / Approval.

Why do we need acceptance? Why can’t we just be ourselves, without worrying about whether our stance would be accepted or not? Is it actually possible that we simply do not bother about what others think, and be ourselves? I doubt whether even the people with their famous ‘I Don’t Care’ attitude live on their own terms. Does living in a society strip us of our right to live our own life? To present ourselves as we are, without even a hint of pretence?

There was a story I read yesterday, in which a painter was searching for a face that reflected the divine, so that he could paint a portrait that reflected life. After a long search, he finally found a shepherd, whose face was so innocent, so beautiful, and so radiant, that he instantly knew that this was the face he was searching for. He painted an exact portrait, and that portrait sold like hot buns. Many years passed, and the painter realized that life is not as divine as it used to seem. So he thought why not paint a portrait that showed the devil in life. He again went on a search. He searched for a face that reflected the devil incarnate. After a long search, he found a person, who had committed seven murders, and was to be hanged. His face was so ugly, that it only reflected hate. The painter knew that this face would be a perfect complement to his earlier painting of the divine face. He completed the portrait, and it was again a masterpiece. He was admiring his own work when he heard a sob. He looked back, and saw the murderer crying. He asked, “Friend, why are you crying? Does this picture disturb you?” He was astonished on hearing the answer. The murderer replied, “Sir, I am the same old shepherd, whose portrait you painted many years back, and now I have fallen from the divine to the devil!”

So coming back to the previous question, do we all present ourselves completely, or do we just present our socially acceptable sides? Well, I guess it’s not at all wrong to hide our ‘darker’ sides, but the least we could do is to accept the duality that exists in us, as well as any other person.

We all need clothing…salute to the person who can come out naked.