Inner Child SoulCollage®
by C.C. McQuain
There are myriad aspects of the “inner child”. Today I’m not thinking about healing the Wounded Child (although that itself is essential, transformational work). Today I am thinking about calling on the Playful Child within, in order to bring about a transformation in your current perspective.
Years ago, on my husband’s thirtieth birthday, I brought him to Six Flags. I presented the outing as a “celebration of the end of youth” (that was a joke), but really I wanted it to serve as a reminder of the fact that we need never lose the youthful perspective which approaches every event anticipating – even looking for – the fun it contains. Years prior, he and I met in Walt Disney World (literally – we were both working there at the time), and so even our beginnings were somewhat steeped in this idea of joy being inherently infused in everything. Yesterday I brought our sons to Six Flags (for no particular special occasion), and it renewed in me this sense of “finding the fun”, which I admit, I seem to have forgotten lately.
Of course, places like this are painstakingly designed to provide the illusion of delight around every corner, but it can be inspiring to realize that it doesn’t have to remain within their gates, and it doesn’t have to be completely illusory. If we make a conscious effort to see our world – even the mundane everyday experiences – through the enthusiastic eyes of a child, each situation we encounter holds a measure of wonder and joy. “Problems” become challenges and opportunities. “Waiting” becomes eager anticipation. And sometimes “no” even becomes, “Possibly… How?”. The exuberance of the Playful Child sheds a different light on everything!
If you call on your own inner child, how can he/she view the situations that you are facing today? What might you have to learn from this shift in perspective?
~ Christiana
