I’ve just finished reading Danielle Laporte’s latest blog on “Your Inner Child”.

Being on the doorstep of a very grown up, life changing decision, I think a lot of this decision is in fact bringing me back to the child I often think about, yet the grown up world weighs down; the grown up world stifles down; the grown up world overloads with busyness and responsibility and “to-do’s”. 

Whether you think of it as the age of your spirit or your inner child, it is probably one of THE MOST unfulfilled areas, masks if you may, that many wear.

I know of a man, an older gentleman, a highly knowledgeable and educated man.  Although living in his retirement years, he enjoys painting these teeny tiny little minute wartime figurines.  Each figurine is painted with precise colors to authentically match what soldiers of the 1800’s would resemble.  Wait, it gets better.  Not only that, but he plays wartime games.  Games of strategy, planning and conquer!  He even goes to conventions where all the men play (while their wives hit the outlet malls) these reenactment war games.  *sigh* For the longest time I have admired this youthfulness and felt slight pangs of jealousy.  Jealousy that he not only has been able to be so clear on WHAT his childlike play (inner child) is, but also that he has the time to indulge in this play.

More recently I attended a networking breakfast.  After the formalities, business stuff of the meeting, we had the chance to go around the room for our little “infomercial”.  There was a gentleman present that day that is a professional locksmith. He shared some information about where his business is, what they exactly do and some lock safety tidbits.  The whole time he spoke I looked at him with curiosity.  Here is this middle aged man who loves the intricacies of figuring things out.  Once he finished speaking, here’s me, asking the curious question………what was his childhood like?  “HOW did you get in the locksmith industry”, I asked him.  “Were you the sort of kid that liked to take things apart?”

Well, he told the most wonderful story of his childhood.  Stories about how no matter what room his parents would lock him in, he’d manage to get out!  I was in the presence of a real Houdini!  I loved it!  I loved how he shared with ease and his whole energy appeared to shift to a childlike, playful state.

Isn’t that really the best!  The best way to live.  The best way to live and people with whom to do business with.

I have had a glimpse of who and what my inner child looks like, but, I’m not ready to share.  Na na na na na!  ;)