The Kid Space, The Joy Space

I just got back from speaking to a classroom full of first-graders. And though I need to be careful around those little germ factories, fact is . . . I love them. I love being around them. I love writing for them. And I would rather speak as an author to a room full of little folks than a room full of grownups any day. No contest.

In the last year and a half, it's been no secret on this blog that I have had a front-row seat to Grownups Behaving Badly. The pathetic reality show continued last week when someone I have known for years put on a nasty face and stormed past me without acknowledging my existence. If not for the Church People Hypocrites . . . my goodness, what would amuse me? I have seen Grownups as Cowards, as Gossips, as Backstabbers, as Liars. I've seen them do things NO first-grader would do because in first grade, your basic rule is still BE NICE.

When I write for kids--the little ones--I am transported to a place BRIMMING with enthusiasm for imagination, for words, for illustrations. When I go to Pirate Boy's Tae Kwon Do class, any time anyone struggles, the Master makes the ENTIRE class (and parents and visitors) chant, "YOU CAN DO IT!" and "FINISH WHAT YOU START!" In first grade, the kids still ooze joy.

When I write YA, it's different. My heroine, Callie, has an empty ache. But there is hope--she hasn't hardened into a Grownup Behaving Badly. She isn't hardened at all. She is quiet, with a space that feels empty inside, and she will search for the origins of an ancient manuscript in order to fill it.

I know teens bully. I know the high school years for many are anything BUT the best years. But I still think deep down inside is that joy spot, that space, where you believe that anything is possible.

I like to think that even the Grownups Behaving Badly have that spot too. But some are so far down the course of ugliness, it's virtually lost to them. For me? I will keep visiting those little kids, keep writing for them, keep hugging them, hoping to absorb the joy they give off. 'Cause I, for one, no matter how sick, how tired, how weary . . . never want to lose it. And I'm (ahem) old enough to think that yeah, I won't. It's just a part of me. The very best part of me.

Thoughts? What's your joy space?