Today, I share another Island of Silence from Journey Girl; Steps in Secrets and Sanctuary. During this Pandemic of Covid-19, we may tend to stay focused on how so many things around us are changing. We are called upon to make more decisions in our ordinary day to day life. With the world at odds with “either-or” scenarios of successful return to what we call ordinary life and many of our ordinary play spots, like parks and entertainment venues, we need to remember that special part of you that is still calling for the creation of fun in the midst of these serious times and unanswered questions. That part of you is your inner child. Take some time to recognize this child today and find a way to add fun to your day. This day. There’s no time like the present!
Chapter 13 Island of Silence
“The giant pine tree grows from a tiny sprout.
The jouney of a thousand miles begins beneath your feet.” Lao Tzu
A very special child wants your attention today. Your mission is to find this child. It is truly a child, but it has been with you since infancy. Even though you have grown up, this part of you still remains a child and it relates to you as a child. That is possibly the reason you cannot hear this child. It has frolicked with you and your friends when you were a child and knew how to have fun. It is the playful side of you that still wants to have fun now as an adult. It often says, “More, more, more,” until the adult in you stands his ground and says, “Enough!”
This child in you most often thinks in pure, uncomplicated ways, very directly telling you what it wants, what it thinks, and how it is feeling at the moment. This child in you does not want to get lost and ignored as you go about your adult responsibilities. It wants to partner with you to round out your total personality and be able to show up in you in your old age. This child will not abandon you. It sincerely hopes you do not abandon it. This child does not want you to be afraid of it and it does not want to hold childhood secrets that can be lived safely and truthfully when you grow up.
It wants to show up in both your smiles and your tears. It is present in your fearful moments when you are bravest and feel the courage of a lion. This child can even play an important (though mostly silent) role in your adult decision making. This is your inner child and you most often recognize it as your intuition and imagination, and sometimes as a strong innate impulse. This child is part of your self-identification and also shows up in your sense of humor. The child knows that sometimes its impulses need some adjustment and perspective. That is one of the reasons this child wants you to recognize it.
This child is not an imaginary friend. It has been with you from the start on all your journeys. It has been silent and hidden some of the time, noisy and demanding at other times. It is an influencer of your moods. It is absorbed in playing and it has a remarkable acuity to focus in the moment. On the flip side of that, the inner child relishes and partakes freely in total nonsense.
Sometimes this child manifests within you when it wants you to change direction or loosen your grip on a problem you can’t solve. It can be a distracter, an enabler, a supporter, a pioneer on a quest, or a surprise guest that pops out at inopportune times.
Your inner child lives very close to your heart. Science has proven the human heart has an intelligence of its own, much deeper than puppy love. The heart knows what it knows. That is why your inner child can cut swiftly through some of the clutter of the rational mind and be real. In that way, it can help you with a reality you may be facing but not understand.
This child asks you for your heart awareness and attention. That is why you are looking for this child today on this Island of Silence. It wants you to know it does not need to be left back in the past of your real childhood. Like Peter Pan, this part of your personality, both troublesome and helpful, shares a life in you that never dies. It can be a great benefit to you then to build a common practice of acceptance and loving compassion with your inner child. It can help you soothe the areas of your life that are particularly stressful, isolated, and lonely. You can be partners for good in life.
When you finish this time with your inner child, promise each other you will not lose this awareness of your physical, psychological, and spiritual make-up of yourself. Join together in a united desire for both child and adult:
May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be well. May I be peacefully at ease.
May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be well. May you be peacefully at ease.
Napkinwriter 