Peter Pan is “the boy who refused to grow up.” That’s all I heard about Peter Pan and nothing else. Despite its prevalence in the books and the world of Disney, I never really had a chance to watch nor fully captured the story of Peter Pan. Thanks to the internet, I was able to “google” my to get to know him. According to MedicineNet.com, “Peter Pan is in reference to J. M. Barrie's classic 1904 play in which a boy who refuses to grow up teaches Wendy and her younger brothers how to fly and then it's off to magical Neverneverland for adventures with mermaids, Indians, and wicked Captain Hook and his pirate crew.
It saddens me that Peter Pan has become an idiomatic expression about people who refuse taking responsibility for their actions and hence, the “Peter Pan Syndrome.” This is a term coined by pop psychology author Dan Kiley in his book "Peter Pan syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up."
But I choose to see it from a different perspective. I would like to put the “Peter Pan Syndrome” in a positive light because personally, I believe that one must never lose touch with the “child” in them.
Peter Pan is a child. A child doesn’t worry, is full of fun, openness and imagination. In contrast, “adulthood” can be boring/not fun, too structured and even controlling.
Once in a while, I find it quite comforting to hibernate in my own “Neverneverland” and enjoy the company of “dreams, fantasy and other possibilities” that nobody can take away from you no matter what is happening in the real world at that moment. The upside of this is that it balances off whatever “adulthood” matters that I need to face and deal with from day to day.
I do not run away from responsibility and I am happy to have a bit of “Peter Pan” in my hormones. Thankfully, as of date, “Peter Pan” is not a medically accepted syndrome.
Cartoon Character by: DragoArt
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