I love the smell of Summer rain, that smell of fresh earth and grass filling my nose with its sweet scent.  The scent of that rain takes me back to my childhood when we would run barefoot in the grass letting the rain soak our hair and our clothes as we ran joyously through the cooling liquid.

I wish that I could experience that type of childish joy again. I think that as we get older, we tend to forget that we all should try to keep that inner child alive.  We get so focused on working and raising children and living life every day that we forget what it is to abandon reason and just play.

Lately I have realized that I have been putting "play" on the back burner.  So much has happened in the last year, that I have lost my inner child.  I need to find her again.  And, you know something?  I'll bet dimes to dollars that you could stand to do that too.

If you need a little inspiration, just watch young children as they play.  Watch the joy they can get hunting for lightning bugs, playing in the sand, or just stomping in mud!  We adults are just entirely too serious most of the time.  We need to reach deep inside and find that inner child.  We need to play.  We need to laugh and experience that kind of joy that only real play can afford.

It doesn't cost anything.  It refreshes the spirit and the soul.  It produces those endorphins we read about.  So, what do you say?  Let's take our Oreo's apart and eat the middles first. Let's run in the rain and not worry about what anyone will say.  Let's smell that lovely fragrance of childhood again.


PEACE, LOVE & JOY

Time To Find Your "Inner Child"

Wikipedia says this about "inner child"...Inner child is a concept used in popular psychology and Analytical psychology to denote the childlike aspect of a person's psyche, especially when viewed as an independent entity. Frequently, the term is used to address subjective childhood experiences and the remaining effects of one's childhood. The inner child also refers to all of the emotional memory and experiences stored in the brain from earliest memory.

Carl Jung referred to a similar concept as the "Divine Child". Emmet Fox called it the "Wonder Child".

Whether you think of the Inner Child as a "Wonder Child" or not may depend on the last time you were actually in touch with that childlike quality that still resides in all of us...no matter how deeply we may have buried him or her.

I am a firm and fast believer in the inner child concept, and encourage each and every one of you to try and reach inside yourselves and reconnect with that child that you were growing up.

Do you remember the innocence of childhood?  Do you remember what it felt like to just "play" with abandon?   When is the last time that you did something just for the pure JOY of it?  I love going to "kid movies."  While I am watching these fantasies I return to the innocence of childhood and the joy of laughter and belief in the unbelievable. 

I have spent years cultivating this "inner child" who lets me laugh with my grandkids and play hide and seek with abandon with them.  I enjoy being around them and listening to their grand imaginations.  They tell wonderful stories and believe in the impossible.  If more of us would reconnect with that inner child, and believe it or not we ALL have one, I actually believe we could envision solving many problems, curing many diseases and improving the world just because we still BELIEVED it was possible!

One thing I hate to see is an adult who "spoils" or "squashes" the imagination and fantasy in the life of a child.  I remember one time in particular that my little son colored the sky purple, and his Day Care worker told him that he couldn't do that because the sky is blue not purple!  The sky was purple to him, and I have certainly seen purple skies, haven't you? 

I believe it is an important part of good mental health to get in touch with that inner child.  I believe that it helps to make us better, more grounded people.  Too many of us have become soured on life by becoming "adults" and forgetting to have fun.  We are cynical and judgmental and afraid to reach out to others.  We are often afraid to give too much of ourselves for fear of being hurt.  Children are not afraid to reach out and seek new friends and new adventures. 

So, start thinking about it today.  If you had a lot of hurt in your life, your inner child may be "wounded" and need a little healing, but it isn't too late.  It is never too late.  Look inside and find the joyful inner child and learn to play.  Look up and see "animals and designs" in the clouds above you.
Go to a Disney or Pixar movie and view it with your "childs eye."   Play.  Dance in the rain and build sandcastles by the ocean.  Dip your feet in the fountain.  Don't be afraid, just do it!

I think that part of my "bucket list" exists because I want to stay connected with that inner child, the one who loves to play, and draw and paint.  I want to laugh frequently and freely with my grandchildren.  I want to go back and read some of those books which I enjoyed as a child.  Don't be afraid....reach deep inside you and pull out that inner child today.   You won't be sorry you did!

HAVE FUN!!!

Kids Say The Darndest Things!

If you have had or are having the pleasure of being around small children, you know they are totally uninhibited in what they say and to whom. If there is an obese person around, they are as likely as not to point it out and ask why?! They just don't hold anything back.

I remember one of my little cousins asking my Grandmother, "why have you got so many cracks in your face?" Another time when one of the children was particularly hungry and was asked to say grace...we got "Grace" and not another word!

The little one above was switching down the hall of the hotel when we were at the beach and I told her she was switching her butt. She turned around and looked indignantly at me and said, "I am NO smoochiebutt!"...she's still stuck with that little moniker.

I point all this out to say just one simple thing. Remember those precious times. The time passes so quickly and they grow up so fast. Soon they will have the pressures of the teen years and high school and college. Adulthood arrives all too soon, and we forget the simple joys of living.

Today is a gorgeous Fall day here in Central Georgia. I think Lucille and I will head for the Georgia National Fairgrounds this afternoon, and dine on large, greasy onion rings. We will watch the children ride the rides on the Midway and scream and giggle with delight and remember fondly our own childhoods and that of the children we loved.

Kevin will be there all weekend demonstrating chip carving and power carving in one of the large buildings. Hardwood-designs.net is his web page...he has done, and is still doing some lovely things. I think he is carving Santa's for a friend of ours today.

So, find your "inner child" and take off for the fair and share a funnel cake or onion rings or one of those giant Turkey Legs! Look at the animals and watch the children...enjoy!