Where the Heck is it Anyway?
If you’ve been an adult for a long time, your innocence is something that has most likely fallen away. Probably at some point in your younger years. Which makes total sense if you think about it. The more we get caught up in our daily lives, routines and responsibilities, the harder it is to retain this quality. But it’s something that keeps our lives feeling fresh and exciting! For those reasons alone, it’s definitely a concept you’ll want to incorporate. Here’s some ways to shake things up and bring more of the energy of innocence into your present space.
Trademarks of Innocence
Play
Having fun should be part of everyone’s daily routine. Kids have this part down – no problem. Adults? Not so much! Playing and having fun is good for your spirit. It releases some of the pent-up energy that gets stuck. It allows us to be creative and exercise our minds in a completely different way. And it provides a sense of freedom that we don’t get from a lot of other spaces in life.
Perspective
If you never saw something before, how would you approach it? How would you look at a pencil if you didn’t know what it was? Would you be shocked to learn that if you played with it, it leaves a mark on a piece of paper? And with those marks you could write letters, words, or even a short story? How about if you turned it completely upside down. Then discovered you could erase any of those marks that you want? Would you see any differently? Would it still be a boring pencil, or would you see it as a magickal tool? Shifting our perspective allows us to have new experiences and see ordinary things in extraordinary ways. What would change in your life if you changed your perspective?
Curiosity
How many times in life have we cooked dinner, driven in a car, written an email or seen a move? Probably a bunch! Probably so many that we forget to notice or appreciate how incredibly amazing all of these things are. In addition to being curious about the item itself, think about how and why things work the way they do. Why exactly does the car start when you turn the key, and what needs to be in place mechanically in order for that to happen? When you start to appreciate the details of the situation, suddenly the world becomes a lot more interesting and fun.
Start by asking yourself:
- What else could I learn about this particular subject or item?
- What can it show me?
- How can I approach this in a new way?
Wonder
Sometimes it’s enough to just sit in complete awe of something simple. Whether it’s a flower or a leaf. Or how small a grain of sand on a beach really is. You might contemplate the clouds in the sky, the colors of a sunset or how cool it is that dogs and cats exist. Looking at the beauty of the world with a different lens cultivates a sense of wonder for everyone. If you want to get more existential, you can think about how a 30,000-pound airplane can fly or whether happiness is a chemical or an emotion. Either way, being blissed out by the world around you reminds you of how cool of a place we’re actually in. Don’t forget it’s ok to include some curiosity within this state of being if you like. Both concepts blend well together.
New Experiences
When we do the same things day in and day out, we get used to the way things are. With that in mind, how exciting do you think eating your 837th plate of spaghetti really going to be? Probably not that great unless you make an effort to really get curious about your food.
Cultivating new experiences is one way to bring some more innocence back into our life. The very premise of innocence in children is that they are seeing everything for the very first time. It’s an exciting and magickal experience to discover the world around you in this way. Some people have the good fortune to be excited about life on a consistent basis. For the rest of us, it’s not so easy. This is why getting out of your comfort zone to try new things, learn something new or change one routine can help bring our innocence back to us.
Concepts of Innocence
Doing things without rules!
Have you ever noticed that adults are the ones with all the rules and regulations? They are also the ones who are having issues with hanging on to their innocence. Children are the complete opposite! Kids make things up as they go along. They try stuff out to see if it works. They take chances adults would cringe at. And it’s what helps them stay curious and excited about life.
Notice where you hold yourself back from doing things. Then ask yourself who told you that you couldn’t do it. Or why things have to be done a certain way. Try to look at it from a different perspective and see how that impacts the way you choose to move through your life.
Doing things because they feel good, not because there’s a tangible outcome.
Kids do this ALL THE TIME! They make hideous artwork because it was fun to be messy. Not because they’re trying to win best in show. They get wet at the most inopportune times (think water fountains, lakes, sprinklers or rivers); Simply because they want to splash and play in the water. They’re not thinking about riding an hour home sopping wet in your car. They’re too busy having fun to worry about what happens next. For them it’s about the experience of being mindful and living in the moment.
Before you quantify what purpose, something has, try doing it for the feeling it gives you. Or even for the experience of trying something new. Not everything has to have an objective in order to be a good time.
Forgetting what you know & forming a new concept.
Our mind has a lot of pre-set rules or default settings that help us make sense of how we see the world. We have so much information coming at us on a daily basis, that if we didn’t have a filtering system, or a way to deal with it all, we’d short circuit. But while these things help us organize our lives, they also take away that energy of innocence we need. That’s why it’s important to check in with ourselves from time to time and review the habits and beliefs we carry.
Make a list of habits or beliefs you have that you think are blocking you from experiencing innocence in your life. Then see if you can rewrite them in a new way. How can looking at things differently put you more in alignment with where you would like to be?
“Innocence comes from a place in your heart where a little child still runs free.”
Nikki Wood