Child Within

I don’t know about anyone else but I often find myself awed by children.  It may sound a little strange but I sit and watch how children play and interact and I am in awe but also saddened that so many of us seem to have lost as we’ve gotten older. 

The mind of a child is an extraordinary thing the ability to really ‘see’ the world around us, to connect to levels we no longer seem able to as adults.  To feel completely uninhibited by societal constraints and ingrained perceptions.  You see young children happily play with each other no matter physical appearance – they are accepting, they live for the joy of play and the connection with another.  I have a niece who has several physical handicaps (she was born 15weeks premature) and she has gone to the park and had children unknown to her previously embrace her unconditionally into their play.  They help her despite the fact that she can’t really walk, they only see another free spirit, they don’t see the physical shell.

This kind of perception is something we lose in our adult life and it is something that I think draws us to a spiritual path.  Many pagan traditions emphasize a universal interconnectedness that many long for as adults.  These traditions offer us a chance to embrace a path that helps us to reconnect with this mental state we held as children. 

To cast aside the social restraints on behavior and thought patterning that we have grown up with is difficult, it is something that I strive towards every day but it is of vital importance to truly embracing our spiritual path.  Until we can let go, embrace our spiritual selves, connect with inner child, we will struggle to truly grasp the world.

So dance, sing at the top of your longs, paint, color in, skip down the street, embrace others as fellow spiritual beings and cast off the shackles of societies expectations.