Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Sheltered and Naive
You think I am extremely sheltered, and although you didn't say it I suspect you also think I am very naive. My first reaction was offence...most people seem to use the term "sheltered" and "naive" in a derogatory manner. But I am not easily offended and no matter how sheltered and naive I may be I have always been honest with myself and willing to face my shortcomings.
So here goes.
Sheltered means "protected", "secure".
So, yes, I have lived a very sheltered life. I can't help it. For as long as I can remember people have always looked after me. Although I didn't really have friends at school and wasn't popular, everyone was always nice to me and looked out for me. Even the popular and bad boys/girls who were very cruel to various other outcasts were considerate of me. This same pattern has continued in all aspects of my life. Even now, when I am independent and grown up, I am protected and relatively secure. People still look out for me. I don't ask them to, and it's not like I can't look after myself....yet people seem to treat me like I am a lot younger and a lot less mature than I am. They treat me like I am vulnerable and sheltered and naive. Why is that?
Naive. Lacking sophistication. Lacking experience of life. Artless. Unsuspecting. Credulous. Lacking understanding.
Am I naive?
You might think I lack experience of life. I might agree with you, or I might not. Perhaps I lack guile. If you think so, that is good, I won't dissuade you otherwise. And perhaps I am ignorant and lacking understanding....
hmmm... I think I see why you might think I am sheltered and naive. You think you know all of my life experiences. You think I lack experience. You are probably right.
Perhaps you think that understanding is directly correlated with experience. Perhaps you think my relative lack of experience has left me ignorant of the world. I guess the way I behave and talk supports that impression: I ignore the news, I don't care about politics, I am sometimes childlike and idealistic, I am focused on having fun and not being serious, I seemingly have no goals, I seem to be unassertive, I seem to be drifting in fairyland, and I rarely bother thinking things through.
Perhaps other people share a similar view to you, perhaps that is why they are always looking out for me.
So here goes.
Sheltered means "protected", "secure".
So, yes, I have lived a very sheltered life. I can't help it. For as long as I can remember people have always looked after me. Although I didn't really have friends at school and wasn't popular, everyone was always nice to me and looked out for me. Even the popular and bad boys/girls who were very cruel to various other outcasts were considerate of me. This same pattern has continued in all aspects of my life. Even now, when I am independent and grown up, I am protected and relatively secure. People still look out for me. I don't ask them to, and it's not like I can't look after myself....yet people seem to treat me like I am a lot younger and a lot less mature than I am. They treat me like I am vulnerable and sheltered and naive. Why is that?
Naive. Lacking sophistication. Lacking experience of life. Artless. Unsuspecting. Credulous. Lacking understanding.
Am I naive?
You might think I lack experience of life. I might agree with you, or I might not. Perhaps I lack guile. If you think so, that is good, I won't dissuade you otherwise. And perhaps I am ignorant and lacking understanding....
hmmm... I think I see why you might think I am sheltered and naive. You think you know all of my life experiences. You think I lack experience. You are probably right.
Perhaps you think that understanding is directly correlated with experience. Perhaps you think my relative lack of experience has left me ignorant of the world. I guess the way I behave and talk supports that impression: I ignore the news, I don't care about politics, I am sometimes childlike and idealistic, I am focused on having fun and not being serious, I seemingly have no goals, I seem to be unassertive, I seem to be drifting in fairyland, and I rarely bother thinking things through.
Perhaps other people share a similar view to you, perhaps that is why they are always looking out for me.
// posted by suze @ 2:02 PM 
