Thoughts on Procreation

2/12/25

Am I in a place to determine that I would withhold this world from another soul, for which I am responsible? I am not responsible for any soul, let alone that of a child of my own.

Should I hope to one day bring a child into the world, I could just as easily adopt and reduce the burden of one body on the world. What aligns better with my hope of solace and service than to accept the otherwise unwanted into my haven?

Am I being selfish today against an older self? I have made plenty of permanent decisions, and afterward accepted the nature of my life then-on. My journey has no end, I seek no summits. I act on whim, I accept my lot.

Does my disheveled, groping search for solace in pleasure cloud a deeper, sleeping hope of something more transcendent? Almost certainly. But have I ever been the sort of soul to place my hope, my identity, into the lap of another? Never,

My daughter, my son, you are the same as all the rest of these lost and frightened things. My sons and daughters will be those under my roof, on the days when the are here in my arms.