I must feed the inner child for my future self
Have you ever doubted your creativity? Did you ever feel like your creative side hasn’t been the same since…ever?
If there’s something I’ve learned by watching the movies by Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli is that our inner child must be persevered and listened to. The movie I’m specifically referring to is The Whisper of The Heart (1995). It is a challenge to give space to that inner voice that we tend to suppress in name of maturity.
Sometimes even the community you’re part of seems to not have it all figured out for you and your needs. Maybe you feel too far or too close to a certain cause that you can’t face any other thought in your mind. Being alert in your community is fundamental to having a purpose in your work and not only relying on your capabilities. As much as it is important to believe in yourself, having faith in others is essential too in order to step up with your projects. Even those who claimed they did it by themselves had at least one person who believed in them. But still, private time to yourself is important.
When it seems that help from others and external inputs don’t come across you, it is time to reconnect with who you are and what were the things you’ve always wanted to do, possess, and be. This process can be painful, especially if those dreams weren’t possible to make them concrete because of actions or circumstances you couldn’t control. Nevertheless, now you’re grown-up and you have the ability to create your own plans. All you’ve got are the present and the future ahead of you.
Satisfying every little dream we had since we were kids can be a long-term challenge and not all of us can be lucky to achieve them at a certain allocated and desirable time. However, from time to time it is imperative to have a heart-to-heart within ourselves and ask ourselves how our creativity can be restored, in lost and sad times. Your personal inner child would know the answer.
Questions to reflect on, if you find yourself in a moment of self-doubt and need to reconnect with your creative-inner-child again:
If obstacles were not here, what would I want right here and right now?
Is there a way I can make a sketch of these dreams?
I don’t need to accomplish this by the end of the day/week/month/year/decade, but how can I put in motion this project?
Would little-me be happy in thinking this big about this idea?
