C.A.R.E.

for the Ageless Child in All of Us

(C.onscious A.utonomous R.eciprocal E.xchange)
A child is mysterious and powerful; and contains within himself the secret of human nature. If I were to establish a primary principle, it would be to constantly allow the child's participation in our lives. Maria Montessori ( !"#$ %&'(
)nly throu*h freedom and environmental e+perience is it practically possible for human development to occur. Maria Montessori What is this mysterious power of the child Montessori wrote about !t is the creati"e power of what ! call Responsible #ersonal $reedom that is practiced by what ! call the A*eless ,hild. %he Mature Adult ta&es total responsibility for his choices and actions' meaning he is free to do what his Ageless Child wants. %his results in the &inds of spontaneous and fun beha"iors we associate with young children which adults often tend to en"y as well as fear to practice. %his is a difficult state for many indi"iduals to achie"e and its lac& is one of the reasons why people lead li"es of (uiet desperation.. Affecti"e neuroscience)s spo&esman' *aa& #an&sepp' disco"ered se"en brain centers that he named Emotional Systems that all mammals' including humans' share and which dri"e beha"ior. %hey are capitali+ed to signify their primary place in the e"olution of the human brain, -..EE/!01 2.$EAR 3.RA1E 4.56.% 7.CARE 8.#A0!C95:.. ;.#5A< (0ote that =-' 4' 7' ; are positi"e rewarding and =2' 3' 8 are negati"e punishing.) %he child is the curious' interested' .EE/!01 principle inside each person>this is what moti"ates us to explore' examine' and explain the world to oursel"es and others. %he .EE/!01 emotional brain system seems to be the foundational process for all the others. ! belie"e it is the Creati"e principle and ! associate it with the Ageless Child' because it is not so much age?related as maturity9wisdom?related. Closely lin&ed to .EE/!01 is #5A< in terms of my concept of the Creati"e Child in all of us. #5A< is what we need to do with our .EE/!01 dri"e to channel it into the most creati"e' producti"e and satisfying acti"ities that will benefit humanity. When we consider the others of the se"en Emotional .ystems' the one that is absolutely necessary for the Ageless Child (expressed as .EE/!01 and #5A<) to exist is CARE. Without CARE our Ageless Child can not sur"i"e. .o what is CARE .imply put' it is the nurturing principle most familiar in the attention the mother gi"es to the infant. CARE is what pro"ides the necessary resources that enable the Ageless Child to continue to grow in each of us at any age@and should be the primary goal for any society that would establish peace and prosperity that can be attained by a culti"ation of the Ageless Child in all.

%he Ageless Child is a mature creation@the opposite of the immature adult who throws temper tantrums (or usually much worstA) and acts childishly' rather than childli-e. !t ta&es Responsible #ersonal $reedom to be an Ageless Child. <ou must reclaim an adult' and earned' innocence. %he etymological meaning of innocent is to Bdo no harmC and this is what the Mature Adult does with his life energy. My acronym out of the word care' C.onscious A.utonomous R.eciprocal E.xchange' is meant to pro"ide a general definition for what ! belie"e ,A./ as a primary brain system can be as the foundation for the first truly human morality in our history that transforms Mi*ht into .i*ht. %his principle of C.A.R.E. will permit and promote the Ageless Child to flourish and result in peace and prosperity for man&ind.