INNOCENCE!

We often expect age to come with a certain kind of behaviour.

When someone is older, we expect them to be wiser, calmer, more careful with their words. We expect them to know how to handle every situation.

And when they don't?

When an older person reacts innocently, trusts easily, gets excited over little things, or simply doesn't know how to respond, we are quick to give it a name.

“They're foolish.”

“They should know better by now.”

But why do we assume that growing older means leaving innocence behind?

I have always been someone who reacts quickly.

If someone says something, I respond.

If someone does something, my reaction comes almost instantly.

Sometimes it comes out strongly.

Sometimes softly.

And sometimes, honestly, I don't know what to say at all.

There are moments when I simply stand there, trying to understand what just happened.

Maybe that's not immaturity.

Maybe it's just being human.

We all have different ways of responding to the world. Some people think before they speak. Some speak before they think. Some know exactly what to say. And some need a little time to find their words.

I've often wondered why we are so quick to turn someone's innocence into foolishness.

Maybe maturity isn't about always knowing what to say.

Maybe it isn't about never reacting.

Maybe it is simply about learning to understand ourselves—our reactions, our emotions, our mistakes—and slowly growing through them.

Because growing older and growing wiser are not always the same thing.

And perhaps, somewhere between maturity and innocence, there is a part of us that deserves to remain exactly as it is:

genuine.