kidspeak

Talking to kids about these things is great because they tend to have innocent wonder instead of the cynical skepticism. I would briefly and simply tell them my view on the matter, then segue into a socratic discussion that guides them toward further contemplation of the possibilities. When I used to drive my younger brothers and their friends places, they would take the opportunity to barrage me with a back-load of questions about these things. And when I would fill them in, it was fun to see their faces light up with amazement at finally understanding some mystery, their going "whoaaaa" as they pondered possibilities that stretched their imagination.

When two or three years old, I saw a TV episode about a family whose house started shaking and tilting. They looked out the window and saw a giant girl lifting and playing with their house as though it were a small dollhouse. That episode disturbed my little toddler brain like nothing else because it touched on an important but dimly remembered truth concerning hyper-dimensional beings doing similarly to us. I've always had a fascination with miniatures for this reason, as though reliving what it is like to be a higher being arranging and experimenting with the linear experiences of the lower self.

I had exactly the same feeling when I was a little girl, in fact I commented on it in another thread here recently.  But as a child I never told anyone that.  I never felt comfortable sharing my real thoughts with anyone because no one really listened to me or took me seriously.

What I wish someone had told me then, is to always trust my own feelings and instincts.  I wish someone would have encouraged me to think for myself and explore my own ideas.  I wish that sometimes adults would have just let me talk without making judgements on what I had to say.

Adults are sometimes too quick to exert their influence over a young person and try to mold them to their own way of thinking.  The best you can do is simply be honest about how you see things.  And then give them space to think about it, or to share what they think.

Be aware too that sometimes kids will pretend they are looking for your opinion, when they are actually just testing the waters to see if it is safe to tell you something that they have seen or experienced.

I would/do tell them, "what do YOU think?", of course I would give my opinion, but tell them that life is full of 'possibilities' and to use their 'imaginations':)

Thanks for sharing so many excellent points, every one.  I’ll do my best to keep them all in mind.  I figured this would be a good place to find sound advice. 

I remember seeing that post, Athenais.  It actually got me to thinking about the first time I ever questioned the world around me.  I have this vivid memory of puddle-jumping my way home from elementary school one early spring day.  I heard geese honking overhead and stopped momentarily to glance up at them.  Blinded by the sun, I lifted my hand to shade my eyes when all of a sudden this thought-whisper struck me from out of nowhere.  "None of this is real".  I blinked and took a good look around to assure myself that "of course it's real, silly-billy!". 

I saw naked branches drip-drip-dripping, red rubber boots all shiny and wet, piles of mud-splashed, exhaust-stained snow stretching down along the sidewalks and way up there above the rooftops was the flock I'd heard streaming its way north under an endless blue sky.  Yet the certainty I'd known not a minute before didn't return.  I closed my eyes and felt sunbeams kiss my rosy-red cheeks.  I took a deep gulp of crispy breeze…held it…let it out…then took another before opening my eyes.  Nope.  Even though everything was still there, I really had no way to prove it was there and I couldn't shake the feeling that somehow it was all fake.  Phony-bologna!  No longer was seeing necessarily believing.  Pardon the plagiarism, Montalk, but your words fit here all too well.  It disturbed my little grade-school brain like nothing else. 

Anyway, my young lady asked me that question, concidentally, just a few days after pondering all this as we were driving down to an off-leash hill here in town so I was able to share my little story with her and hopefully open a dialogue.  It sounds to me like you’re off to a great start to doing the same with your boy, Seeking.  (BTW, I almost PM’d you about the Tesla lyrics the other day.  For you to post that particular song at that particular time was extremely meaningful to me in many-many ways.  Thank you SO MUCH!)

Mutant Mouse, those are some of the same kinds of things that my young man’s been wondering lately.  We talked about it for a bit and I sent him the dreamviews website but now I wonder if that was the right thing to do.  Magical Mongoose said somewhere that he got a message from them without posting on their forum so I hope I didn’t expose him to any thing/one…um…troublesome.