Loving Your Inner Child
I just recently saw a picture of myself as a little girl. I was at a family birthday party with cousins and I was sitting on the grass in a sundress giving the camera a big smile with my cute little head tilted to the side. That picture caught me off guard. I thought to myself "look at that happy little girl with such a big smile and bright eyes". That was me as a child so full of dreams and excitement for what each day would bring. Yes, things were not always perfect as we had our share of struggles growing up, but this picture makes me realize that I didn't let things get to me at that time. I didn't hold on to the bad things. If something happened that wasn't so great well tomorrow is a new day. I would dream non stop and I loved school. I loved to read and write and I remember English and Reading were my favorite classes growing up. I also thought to myself "I love her"! I loved that I carried a peace and love in my heart for life. No matter what, even if I was sick or somebody was mean at school I was always able to let it go and focus on what brought me joy. At that moment I decided that I am going to embrace my inner child and listen to her. When she wants to dance, I'm gonna dance. When she wants to go for a bike ride (since I don't even own a bike), I am gonna purchase the prettiest bike I can find that is her favorite color and go. If I want to swing really high at the park, well you bet I am going to get off that bike and make a run for the swings and lay back and let the wind flow through my hair looking up at the sky, while smelling the spring air.
Our inner child can help us remember who we truly are. As grown ups we somehow got into this mindset that we have to act a certain way, dress a certain way, and talk a certain way. I understand that we need to obviously be appropriate, but letting our true self be free is something a lot of women hold back on. I hear it a lot, women telling me "oh, I don't do that anymore as I am old now" or "I just don't have the time for myself to do the drawings I used to love to do as a child," while there is a room full of drawing supplies just catching dust in the spare bedroom. I am not talking about doing anything that will be harmful to us like doing something that is just crazy, but we can remember who we were as a little girl. Did you like to draw? Did you like to dance? Did you like to explore in nature and play with bugs? What brought you joy as a child? What excited you? I bet if you can sit and think back to those memories they will make your heart happy and there is no reason why you can't live now with that inner child guiding you along the way. We all need to allow our inner child to remind us to enjoy the simple delights in life. I used to walk home from school and look at all the different flowers and I would stop and smell each one to bask in their heavenly scents. I also loved to watch the sky change colors throughout the day so being outside was a daily must.
If your inner child was mostly a scared little one and unpleasant memories come up when you think back than you can comfort her with your loving parenting or adult wisdom. It is very good for these feelings to come up and be acknowledged as when you were a child it is possible you did not get the attention you needed. As an adult when old familiar feelings arise from your past and you recognize them from when you were little, it is the best time to sit with it. By sitting with the feeling for a bit, you then can acknowledge that it's something from the past that is needing your attention to be loved and let go of. With your love by tuning into the feeling and accepting it as your inner child's cry to be heard or seen, you will be healing your past. Sitting with and surrendering to old feelings that come up from when you were little is the best way to get release and to heal. We need to love ourselves and release the memories or feelings from our past and take with us the positive joyful ones.
May your inner child rise and take you on a journey of fun, joy, and happiness! He or she knows how to have a good time! -Love Always, Marcia
I am the one in the middle of the bunch in red. That is Mom on the right.
