Perspective

Abstract

What are the differences between how you perceive the world as an adult and how you perceived it as a child? To start with, there certainly is a difference in size. As a child, tables and chairs are the same height as you, bookshelves look enormously tall and you have to reach up for the doorknob. If you want to look out of the window, you probably need to climb on a chair or a pile of books. And, as you looked out of the window, the world appears bigger than you see it as an adult; cars, trees, people all miraculously grow, and the pet dogs you know as small become the size of tiny horses. Now, this change of physical size is not the only transformation taking place. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child, you will probably find many things you don’t understand (such as how cars work), things that scare you (the dark corners of your room at night), and things that bring you an immense joy unexpectedly (such as mother agreeing to get you some ice-cream after a walk in the park). Most of all, you are probably curious about all things around you—the things that you now, being an adult, stopped questioning. New words begin to sound funny and strange and the question ‘Why?’ is often on your lips (Glăveanu, 2020a). You find grown-ups ready to answer and explain things to you, but also those annoyed by your questions and those who end up ignoring you. You also have friends to play with and imagine, during the game, that every one of you is someone or something else. You can easily become an animal by walking on all-fours or a doctor by placing the stethoscope around your neck. How strange and exciting is that? Imagining, as a child, that you are an adult!