As a small child, I entertained myself by playing in my room and creating a whole imaginary world.
I danced to records (Chorus Line—my eldest brother’s favorite—or Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall, my first rock record also given to me by my brothers).
My stuffed animals all had special relationships: Orca The Sea World Whale and Mickey Mouse in particular.
I’d color at my cardboard table doodles of flowers, and I’d venture out on my bike to a rock on an empty lot and look straight up at the sun—squinting my eyes to see if I could see into the space between me and it.
How we were as children and what we did with our time formed who we are now.
I still like to dance in my living room to music. I still have conversations with myself out loud. I still color with paint. And I like to do an open-eye meditation called “awareness of awareness”, looking at the space between me and another object.
In an interview for a syndicated family magazine, the interviewer asked me what parents could do with their kids when they get bored rather than be on screens.
I told her, “Parents have an opportunity to let the kids discover on their own what will entertain themselves without influence. Even if that means sitting in the discomfort of not knowing what they will do until they default to their imagination.”
I asked her what she did when she was kid. She said she grew up on a farm and hated having to take care of the sheep and the pigs, so she avoided it by making herself busy in the kitchen.
“I cook all the time now,” she said. “It’s one of my great passions.”
I asked her, “Did you write as a kid too?”
“I read every book I could get my hands on,” she told me. “It doesn’t surprise me I grew up to be a writer.”
When you’re going through a transition or don’t know what to do next; when you feel somewhat dissatisfied with life and your place in it, remember what you did as a child.
How did you spend your time by yourself? How did you entertain yourself? What interested you?
Everyone has something. Something they know they loved doing. This is what kept you company and left you feeling fulfilled.
Our child self’s interests give us our innate sense of purpose.
We never know where these simple, child-like expressions may lead. But the fact is, they somehow always provide us with joy and happiness.
They leave us feeling inspired and cause us to form a deeper relationship with ourselves.
Love and joy is already there—inside of us—waiting and willing for us to meet it.
Through the connection to our creativity, we are never alone. It’s here with open arms—ALWAYS there for us.
To remembering who we are and embracing our inherent interests!
