WORD l INNER GENIUS

What's Freedom Got to Do with Embracing Your Inner Child?

The other day, my Facebook Memory page featured a cute old video clip of my son doing Hokey Pokey dance. I can't help but sharing the clip with you here. He was two at that time. Now ten years later, he is almost as tall as me.

I remember the feeling I had when I captured the adorable moment. I was in awe by the way he danced; cute and genius. A downward dog pose in the middle of the Hokey Pokey dance (minute 1:06); who would've thought that?

Children Versus Adults

I am in awe of how little children immerse themselves in what they do without feeling self-conscious.

Can you imagine if a child thinks and acts like an adult? In my son's case, he would've been worry of making the right move, unsure about what to do, and looked at other kids to compare himself. We would've never experienced the joy of seeing someone the way they were and being in awe by a little progress or things they uniquely do. They would be too afraid of falling again and again and too embarrassed of making silly sounds. Most of them could never walk or talk.

The incredible resilient beings that we call little children are here to remind us of what it feels like to be fully alive and be in a moment.

We can relate to them because once we were also children. We all have felt-sense experiences from our childhood memories for being so alive, free-spirited, joyful, curious, playful, at peace, in flow and connected at the same time.

But for some reason, things changed. We become so serious. We take everything seriously. As if there is only one right way to do something. Borrowing Dr. Seuss's rhyme, we prefer to put ourselves in a box rather than playing with a fox.

I believe this is because we live in a world that is always fixated on the outcome. Our parents, teachers, managers, clients, and stakeholders value and measure us by the results we deliver. As we rush to find the right way to fulfill the expectations, we become afraid to show who we truly are. Our inner parent takes control. Calculating risks, anticipating worse scenarios, and making sure we stay in course. Our inner genius and resourcefulness weaken as we are spellbound by the paradigm of 'should' and 'should've'.

The more we starve and neglect the inner child in us, the more dissatisfaction and lack of fulfillment we experience.

Inner Freedom

Seeing my son danced in the video reminded me of what it feels like to be free. Free to play. Free to experience simplicity and flow. To be in awe of things that seem ordinary. Freedom to move in all directions. Freedom to be here, now.

To move purposefully without being fixated on the outcome, you must cultivate your inner freedom. How else can you be better at it other than bringing your inner child out to play?

Inner freedom starts from a deep understanding that perfect freedom doesn't come from a perfect circumstance but from a stance you make within.

No matter what you think of the world, can you see yourself, the inner child in you, with love and respect for the way she is?

If no one else can give your inner child a loving gaze and allow her aliveness and joy to affect others, who else would?

There is an easier way to find and live your purpose – just give your inner child space to play. As Harold Thurman Whitman said, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Reflections

• What does being alive mean to you?
• What would you like to do to cultivate your inner freedom?
• What signs people close to you would notice when you have a loving relationship with your inner child?

One More Thing – Silly Dance

I stumbled into Seal's version of the Stand by Me song when I started the Coddiwomple Experiment. Since then, I've been dancing to this song regularly. I love the lyrics. When I dance it, I am reminded that:

The whole universe is standing by me.

Mother earth is standing by me. Everywhere I step the ground always ready to receive my foot.

And here I am, standing by my inner child.

This how I enjoy myself while building certainty in my body. Go and let your inner child play in small ordinary little things, then you'll see your world opens up and you'll more connected with your intuitions.