HALO

I just watched "The Village", a story about preserving innocence. Yet, the story points to a cruel paradox: Within the Village, innocence is preserved through fear and deception. In an attempt to keep the Villagers "pure" of mind and living a simple life, the elders had to instigate fear.

Most of us like to live in an innocent world, without all the polluting and corrupting little things we do not like to mention. As we grow up, less and less of the innate innocence remains. It can be quite heart-rending, thus we try to convince ourselves that we are "pure" along with the world around us. Yet, the world is never pure. It never was. We fondly remember the "good old days" as "pure" only because we we're unaware of the complexities of a long-gone era. Or we have forgotten.

Sigh, try as I might, I cannot regain that childlike-innocence and ignorance. The people around me... I see dirtier colours with each passing day. The polluting influence is exposed. The worst irony is: People often feign innocence and ignorance. People do so to protect themselves from the corruption. They hide from it. I, too, instinctively try to hide from it.

Innocence and ignorance is synonymous with childishness and naivety. Yet sometimes it may offer temporary bliss. A makeshift shelter from the harsh world.