Yvonne Agazarian - Autobiography of a Theory: Developing the Theory of Living Human Systems and Its Systems-Centered Practice (International Library of Group Analysis)

When Nanny answered my whys with because the sky is so high, Id ask, How high is the sky? When she cautioned me that Curiosity killed the cat, I would say, Information brought it back, and sometimes, when I was feeling very uppity, Well, I must have nine lives then. It was not that I asked different questions from the questions that every child asks, it was that I asked them all the time whenever I could. When Nanny would say that I must not ask any more questions for ten minutes, I would explain that they filled me up inside and Id burst if I couldnt let them out. And that indeed, was how I felt.

As I was a child of the early 1930s (I was born in 1929), I was brought up to be seen and not heard. All the questions that built up inside me would burst out as soon as I was with Nanny. Nanny, somewhat understandably, often took refuge in the kitchen with Cook and Edith and Maisy (why was I not allowed in the kitchen?) bringing me up my meals and going back down again, while I made mountains and rivers and forests out of my food. It never seemed strange to me that, although I had a Nanny, I often played alone.

When the weather was good enough I was let out to play in the garden, watching the shadow of the house travel slowly back over the lawn (why do shadows move when nobody is moving them?). When the weather was bad, I would play in the nursery. There was a gate at the nursery door and I spent much time leaning over the gate listening to the house. I became very good at knowing what was going on by the noises and voices that drifted up the stairwell.

There was a difference in the voice tone of the servants when we were in and when we were out. Later I was to recognize what a difference the environment makes in who one is. Then I simply knew that if I called out when the servants had their out voices, they would come to visit me, and