After all, children have such a good idea of who they are that they either laugh at, or are simply confused by that angst-filled self-question, \u201cWho am<\/em> I?\u201d The fact that he cannot answer the question \u2014 besides by giving his name \u2014 is no evidence of a child\u2019s self-ignorance, but of his self-knowledge.<\/p>\n Think about it: The perfection of the virtue of patience isn\u2019t to think \u2018I am being so patient right now\u2019. No, it is simply to be<\/em> patient. Likewise, the self-awareness of a child isn\u2019t one that can answer the question, \u201cWho am I?\u201d or think on \u2018who he is\u2019. No, of course not. He simply is<\/em>. He is far too busy living in the Present to evaluate it.<\/p>\n We all ran \u2013 if I remember correctly \u2013 without shoes on hot asphalt under God\u2019s sun, and there wasn\u2019t much more to it. We knew exactly who we were. This seems to be evidenced by the fact that a 4 year old having an existential crisis would freak us grown-ups out.<\/p>\n The reason the child can wear a costume and wear it not as a joke, nor for an occasion, and without a trace of awareness of wearing anything unusual is this: If the question \u201cWho am I?\u201d is bizarre to him, then so is the question \u201cWho am I not?\u201d An adult cannot \u2013without great effort \u2014 put on a Roman centurion\u2019s outfit and be<\/em> a Roman centurion, for an adult is lost, asks the question of the stars, \u201cWho and what am I?\u201d and thus is always aware of This seems to be why we ask children running in costume, \u201cAnd who are you<\/em> today?\u201d and rarely, \u201cAnd who are you imitating\/pretending to be today?\u201d We know innately the innate self-knowledge of a child. This is why make-believe was so fun and is so missed \u2013 it was real. We were not pretending, for there was no pretense. Is was not that we used our imaginations to the point of belief, it was that we believed our imaginations, for we had not yet learned to question ourselves. We didn\u2019t play<\/em> dress-up \u2014 only an adult could do that. We simply dressed up.<\/p>\n We look back with nostalgia, but we forget that there was no real thought that \u201cI am pretending\u201d in our make-believe. We should learn from this, I think. So often we are once-removed from what we are actually doing: I am praying. I am in love with this girl. I am reading a book. (Oh, that one is the worst.) Or perhaps: I am a writer. I am an artist. I am a Catholic.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.shorpy.com\/files\/images\/8a13425u_0.preview.jpg\")
N<\/span>ow ladies, you must realize that for little boys there is nothing less frivolous and more solemn than donning a spidey-suit or a spongey, Roman breastplate. There is nothing ironic, sentimental or self-aware about playing Cowboys and Indians. There is no awareness of dress-up being dressed-up.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pub\/images\/wildthings.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/prints.encore-editions.com\/500\/0\/edmund-adler-make-believe.jpg\")
his not-being a Roman centurion. \u00a0A child, who doesn\u2019t even bother with the question \u201cWho am I\u201d\u00a0is <\/em>a Roman centurion.<\/p>\n