On Innocence

When you think Innocence, what do you think of?
Do you go back in time to your childhood - like me - and reminisce on 'first experiences?' Maybe the first time swinging on a swing, or the first time eating solid foods, or the first time reading the alpha bet... ? Or do you think of innocence you may still experience in your life - maybe in things and experiences you don't have the knowledge of? In other words - is innocence at times... ignorance?

Some of the definitions to the word innocence point to being innocent of guilt in some context, and innocent of experiences, in other context. To me, it suits to make a mish-mash of the two and describe Innocence as a 'human state prior to guilt and experience.'

As all children that get the gift or curse (depends whether you are an optimist in life or a pessimist...) of growing up - I have lost my innocence most areas of my life. Every 'first time' - is a tragic loss of innocence. Even when an experience is gained. But I occasionally (or more like... rarely) feel a tint of innocence in my life. Maybe the 'beginner's mind' I always strive to live in - introduces me to the pure state of Innocence.

When I think about people living in horrible circumstances - be it in oppression, in prison, in abusive relationships, experiencing depression, etc. I think 'how could they have any innocence about them left? Are children being born to atrocious circumstances... are they innocent? Was there innocence in the Auschwitz death camps? Is innocence in a way... a privilege?? Do we only truly sense the gift of innocence when it is... LOST???

​Asking for my inner child.