What do you think of the "inner-child"?

[LukkyKnight]

I've come to regard it as an inner-ancestor, or inner-guru, lately, because calling this piece of my personality a child conveys the wrong feel.

See, I think it's people who are (desperately) committed to (or obsessive about) being, seeming, acting, or embodying "mature," the people who've rushed as fast as they can to become grown-ups, that spoiled the use of this inner-child term as they use it to convey "something I've grown beyond, something to be controlled and managed and kept in check..." Obviously there are times when it's probably best not to get too silly, but children do know that, too. Children are people.

IMHO it's not so healthy to wall off pieces of us, to confine that inner-older-us to some chamber which others never visit or see. That inner-previously-aware-me has got more experience than the alleged grown up component, it's seen more, it's LIVED more. Why not integrate that experience rather than propogate a schism and rely on the less-experienced facets of our personality (the ones wrongly called "mature")?

I have seen those who repress all the things they enjoyed when they were 11, or 21, and I don't envy them. Sometimes they have more money than I do, sometimes a lot more, but part of them is dying in solitary confinement. I don't want my epitath to read, "Here he is. His huge pile of money outlasted him. There's a fight in progress still about who gets it. He never smiled."

 

[Elizabeth]

I am told, almost daily, that I act like a 5 year old. I'm a responsible mom, co-worker and friend. But I love to have fun and do childish things. I like to watch Spongebob Squarepants AFTER my children leave for school. I like to splash in the pool, ride rollercoasters and even buy a Happy Meal for myself, just for the toy. I don't stop being an adult because I like these things. The kid and the adult can exsist side by side if you allow it. It's sad to see people totally lose that part of themselves just because they grew up.

 

[brokenbrainwave]

not sure about my inner child, but my outer ones are driving me up the wall, grrrr, damn cable is out!

 

[marksgirl]

I'm never going to grow up! I'm having way to much fun!

 

[nitengale]

My "inner-child" helps keep me sane in this fucked up world.

 

[Bluesboy2]

My inner child rocks!

Everyone elses is a pain in the ass

 

[ksmybuttons]

"Inner child" is babble I have never bought.

I have alway played and isn't that one of the things that the inner child is about? I have added some adult play to my life, but I haven't given up on the things I liked to do in my earlier years.

One of the best parts of having a child is getting to play with new toys! We go to the park and I swing and slide. I don't do things that go around in circles very well anymore, but all the rest continues.

I think the most important things to retain is our wonder in the world around us: enjoying and experiencing, whether it be new or not. Getting joy from life. That was the type of child I was and it is also the old person I have become.

Money is a way for me to be able to afford to do the things I want to do since mom and dad don't pay the bills anymore. Lucky for me that I am easily entertained.

 

[nitengale]

PS

My "inner-child" is not on any honor roll either.

 

[Guest]

LK,

In earlier training, I felt uncomfortable using the term, "inner child" due to my own lack of self disclosure. After much reading and observation of success, I am a believer of archetype models. There a phaes of life that mold our inner being. Our childhood, especially the first 5 years, help form our personality, character, and values. As an adult, I think we struggle with our simplistic, learned behaviors that worked for years. We become caught up with the "I should's" Nuture the child in you and somehow, life isn't as scary.

 

[perks]

I have an outtie.

 

[YogiBare]

Pop psychobabble.

Not that I don't believe that there are elements of our childhood, such as our capacities for play and for wonder, that we need to keep vital throughout life, because I do. I just don't like the term and think that it has been misused by some who try to use childhood emotional injuries as an excuse to not take responsibility for themselves as adults.

 

[enjoyingitall]

I think I don't let the "inner child" in me come out as often as I would like for her to. She hides well. I don't need it to mask insecurities from childhood or to avoid responsibilities.I'd just like to not be so serious so much of the time. More of a "come out and play" attitude.

 

[bluntforcemama]

You're never too old to be young again.

 

[weed]

I realized how distant the carefree child in me had become when I had my first child. I felt like I learned to play in a way I never remembered playing before, without any pretentiousness. Through the years the responsible adult and the playful child have worked back and forth like a see saw allowing me to have balance between the two.

The terminology just seems to fit.

 

[MorgaineLaFay]

I look at this, as becoming more like my self with every chance I get. I'm not afraid to let the different sides of myself come out. It's all me, depending on my mood. It's all good. The majority of the time, I am caught in a child-woman warp. I am definitely woman, and yet a stranger would have to be blind to not see the child in me. The carefree step in my walk. The laughter in my eyes when I am happy and silly.

 

[perks]

I look at this, as becoming more like my self with every chance I get. I'm not afraid to let the different sides of myself come out. It's all me, depending on my mood. It's all good. The majority of the time, I am caught in a child-woman warp. I am definitely woman, and yet a stranger would have to be blind to not see the child in me. The carefree step in my walk. The laughter in my eyes when I am happy and silly.

I love that you're getting your smile back

 

[MissTaken]

It is the inner child that allows me to

~build sand castles
~wrestle with my brothers when swimming
~laugh from the belly at my family's slapstick behavior
~feed the geese each fall and feel totally free
~Free my mind to create whether it be to sketch, paint or write music

~play with my own children
~communicate with my children as well as other people's children
~see shapes in the clouds and wish upon the evening star

Some of these things were only improved by having children. I never stopped doing them as an adult.

 

[LukkyKnight]

Pop psychobabble.

Not that I don't believe that there are elements of our childhood, such as our capacities for play and for wonder, that we need to keep vital throughout life, because I do. I just don't like the term and think that it has been misused by some who try to use childhood emotional injuries as an excuse to not take responsibility for themselves as adults.

What would you call it, YB?

 

[Laurel]

I think people are like nesting dolls.
http://www.natashascafe.com/doll3.jpg

You start off little, and as you grow, the experiences you gain form the next "shell". Unlike real nesting dolls, there aren't 5 or 6 shells, but thousands...and each shell is stuck like paint to the shell before it.

So there's a part of you that's still 6, 11, 15, etc. The whole "inner-child" gobbledegook seems funky to me. I do believe that the person we were at every point in time is still there inside us. That's why we may react strangely to certain things. A friend of mine grew up with a military father. To this day, when someone barks an order at her, she has two immediate reactions: 1) the adult in her saying "excuse me? you're ordering ME around?"; and the 2) the dutiful daughter saying "yes sir".

 

[Guest]

 

[LukkyKnight]

Well, I'd obviously argue against trying to, though I know there are "adults" who prefer to pretend they have no such tendencies. Can you come out and play, Lioness?

 

[IA951]

I'm going to have to agree with some of you that this "inner child" thing is bullshit.

I have to tell you that sometimes I have a hard time telling who is the parent and who is the child.

I think that engaging in childish behavior is a much easier and more satisfying way to deal with the stresses of life.

Let's face it, in this media culture youth is worshipped, and what is the hallmark of youth?
frivolity right?
why be sober and conservative, weighing the costs vs. the benefits of this behavior and that behavior?

Listen to the Limp Bizkit song
"break stuff"
this is a fantastic example.

There is a time to be a child and a time to be an adult, it's too bad that today that line is very blurred.
Simply put, children are not adults and adults are not children, not matter who bad they want to be.
No matter how many of them behave as children.

 

[LukkyKnight]

The hallmark of youth is being curious, energetically optimistic, and unfettered by concern with regard to "fitting in."



The hallmark of age is typos

 

[fifi]

Inner child

My inner child:

I love to play with balloons, and watch animated movies like My Little Pony

 

[MissTaken]

You can call it whatever you want, but

I would never give up that part of me that one coins the "inner child."

It describes thought that is unrestricted by social mores, adult responsibilities and to just have fun.

Some use alcohol and drugs to find that part of themselves. For me, it is about being "high" on life.

There is a line between being and adult and a child. That does not mean that either role should be seen as a negative thing. It isn't as if I am letting my adult responsibilites slide for the sake of making mud pies.