Don’t we all wish we could be kids again? Well, you can be if you choose to be. Take life a little less seriously. Make jokes that are funny and not funny. Let go of things easily. Live in the moment and for the moment, not in the past or the future.
Do you remember being a kid and looking out of the window of a moving school bus and thinking the trees were running towards you or the moon was following you wherever you went, or you would try to count the stars in the sky? Or how you spoke to the flowers in the garden, hugged the trees and believed that every life counted? Try to see the world through the eyes of a child and appreciate the small things.
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As a child, you often have a natural capacity for unconditional love. You love without judgment and expectations. Maybe you would run to open the door when your favorite aunt or uncle was visiting, or you couldn’t wait to see your friends again at school and share what was in your lunch box at recess. Or you would come home to your pet jumping all over you, and you’d play with her all day telling her stories of the outside world.
Children are naturally curious about the world. They always ask questions and are interested in learning new things, whether it’s trying a new food, playing a new game or learning a new language. They like experimenting and taking risks. They easily make friends and can hold a conversation with anyone.
When I was learning jazz dance, the first thing my teacher taught me was how to fall. You stand straight and bend forward like Michael Jackson in his music video “Smooth Criminal,” until you fall. So, you are taught how to fall even before you start dancing, to show you that it is OK. That you can be bold and trust that you’ll be OK even if you fall like when you were a kid.
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Kids are generally happier. They take things as they come. I think it is time to bring out your inner child and be a little weird. Don’t you think goofing off and having a lighter outlook on life can make you happier?
I have a list of things you can try that will make you feel like a kid again:
- Dance like nobody's watching
- Break out into song on the streets
- Swing in the park
- Jump in bouncy castles
- Eat ice cream and get it all over your face
- Laugh until your stomach starts hurting
- Paint random color blocks on a canvas
- Cannonball into the water
- Read fairy tales
- Watch Disney movies
To everyone who feels a little shy and wants to hide away when they bring out their inner child, I leave you with this quote from C.S. Lewis:
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
Sanjana Jairam (she/her) is a first-year graduate student studying data science.
