Freedom of Expression

I envy young children.  This morning in church, a little girl in front of me had a cough.  I could see her out of the corner of my eye—she was curled in her mother’s lap, warm, comfortable…and yet she started to cry after coughing twice, as if that were the pinnacle of all misery.

How freeing, I thought.  How nice to be able to express yourself utterly without thought for whether it might embarrass or discomfort someone else.  To cry when you’re sad, to laugh when you’re happy, and to do so as loudly and as long as you like, to never worry that someone else might think your feelings foolish…it sounds incredible to me.

Society today teaches us at a very early age to be polite, to always consider others before we speak or act.  Some of us learn that lesson better than others; some of us, too well.  Politeness, consideration, restraint—these are wonderful things.  But there is something to be said for the freedom to express yourself exactly as you like.  I think that the urge to do this is what makes a creative being, and when one finds a way to do it without offending others (much), that is what makes an artist.