"Snakes don' t peel off their skin when they feel like it." I explained. "It happens as a natural consequence of their growth."

"I see, Dad," said Sarah and jumped off my lap, grabbed the snakeskin, and ran off.

I hoped she would remember this. That often, in order to find our real selves underneath the layers of community and culture with which we cloak ourselves year after year, we need to start examining these layers. We need to gently peel some away, as we recognize them to be worthless, unnecessary, or flawed; or at best, store the discarded ones as mementoes of our promotion to a better vitality or spirit.

我解釋說：“蛇喜歡它的皮的時侯，就不會蛻皮。隨著它們的生長，蛻皮是自然的過程。”

薩拉說：“爸爸，我懂了。”說完從我腿上跳下去，拿著蛇皮跑了。

我希望她能記住這一次。為了找尋年復一年為社會和環境所掩蓋的真正的自我，我們需要檢查這些“壁紙”，一旦認識到它們毫無價值，不再需要或者有缺陷，需要輕輕剝去一些，最好是將那些摒棄的東西塵封在記憶中，激勵我們更有活力和更有精神地前進。