The Voyage of Life: Childhood
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“Everything is ceremony in the wild garden of childhood.” - Pablo Naruda
Thomas Cole, a marvelous painter and founder of the Hudson River School style of art, painted a series of paintings entitled “The Voyage of Life.” He began and finished the series in 1842. His school was known for its intricately detailed representation of nature; while being equally influenced by the emotional expression of the Romantic school. The above is Thomas Cole’s “The Voyage of Life: Childhood.”
Emerging from a dark and foreboding cave into a world of endless opportunity, luster, and grandeur. This is the scene in which we find Thomas Cole’s young infant voyager, his guardian angel, and a lush, hopeful landscape. This scene strikes all the appropriate archetypical notes. The infant, shepherded and watched by its guardian angel, begins his journey from formless nothing to a glorious and sacred something. This is a place where every step is new, every word is novel, and every idea is holy. Infancy is when we humans come into the world and begin our slow process of forgetting. The natural scene around our voyager is calm and lush. The lighting and composition speak to a bright future that could not possibly know strife or sorrow. Our voyager stretches out his arms and cries out to the new world unashamedly.
Our initial response to this beautiful work is most likely that of a fond nostalgia, perhaps followed by a mild indignance. How simple life was then. How effortlessly beautiful and bright. This is an indignance at our own naivety that this state of nature could last in perpetuity. This emotional response misses the mark, however. We forget that this is merely the first act of a play. It is a play that builds upon itself in exciting and troubling ways over its course and is written by the player himself. Every triumph is still to come, every strife is not yet overcome. This bold new world is awaiting to teach us lessons about the self, our relation to others, and the wide-world around us. It is through this process of living that we uncover the depths of both joy and sorrow. This journey is where we learn what it means to be. The sanctity we recall so fondly from these early years of our lives merely establishes the narrative foundation for our journeys yet to come.