I Can’t Do It: Feelings & More

I Can’t Do it — Feelings and More

When I say to myself and/or to another person (or other persons) the simple words:

“I can’t do it” — it can mean a variety of things.

I want to share more — related to this, but first have a personal introduction of myself, as I approach my 71st birthday in May, 2022.

With Michael Franti

INTRODUCTION:

My memories of early childhood are very minimal! Mostly, I remember things that were told to me as an adult about my childhood. My mother told me once that as a baby, I had to be constantly reassured. My brother evidently could just “chill”, but I needed to be held a lot and soothed. I don’t remember that, of course!

Relatively late in her life, my mother told me a story of myself at age four. Weekday mornings I was the first boy to arrive at the childcare center. I played happily alone with toys until other boys arrived. Then, they took most of the toys away from me. There was no adult intervention. My mother told me that they wanted to find another, more suitable, childcare center for me. I told them that I wanted to stay there, and they relented.

In retrospect, I feel that this was a part of my emotional isolation; my detachment. They could compare the pros and cons of the choices. I was limited to my narrow age four view. I lacked the capacity to make an “adult” decision, which was their responsibility.