sense and innocence, part 1: innocence

a very dear friend of mine once chided me for describing someone i love as 'innocent'. i'd apparently 'insulted' the person by saying she had that quality!

the word has taken on a negative connotation in these cynical times. liberated and high-thinking individuals find it offensive when applied to an adult.

let's see how the dictionary defines the word:

innocent (adj) 1.uncorrupted by evil, malice, or wrongdoing; sinless

2.not experienced or worldly; naive

3.free of guile; artless

to be innocent now stands for being stupid, naive, unaware. basically, a 'babe in the woods' ('babe': another non-pc word)

i think the word was created to describe something beautiful (sue me, i think the whole world and everybody in it is beautiful!).

here is my (and i like to think, the original) definition of it:

any element in its pure form, as nature created it; anything that has not been corrupted by the introduction of an alien substance/sensibility; the original, natural state of being for anything/anybody

(as you can see, the meaning of the word itself has been corrupted by applying sensibilities and contexts to the original, 'pure' word!)

well-known fact: all babies/children are beautiful because they're innocent.

not so well-known fact: EVERYBODY is beautiful. all you need to do is look beyond their apparent 'mask-i-put-on-for-the-world' face, and see their 'true' self.

try it, it'll make YOU feel beautiful!