Remember when you were younger and you had a sense of adventure? Maybe you referred to it as something else. You had an imagination. OK, too Disney for you? How about creativity? We have this eternal optimism when we are young. That optimism channels those adventurous, imaginative, creative thoughts. We grow old and begin to lose it. We justify it, though. We say we’re realists, or for whatever reason we begin to let the negativity rest in our head and explain to people that whatever the topic is, it can’t happen.
It’s unfortunate we let these feelings slip. Most folks don’t let them entirely disappear, but almost everyone allows them to quickly subside. We seldom channel that younger self with much of anything as we get older. Our education, wallets, careers, and families we created all prohibit our younger self from getting in the way. How sad we are that we convinced ourself that this was something we should do.
Why can’t we have both? Now, the purpose of this piece isn’t saying that we should let our pendulum swing entirely back to the younger, adventurous self, but we need to find a mechanism that allows our creative mind to think. Running a family, managing finances responsibly, and maintaining a stable career are all important things, and we should continue to do these to the best of our ability. But, we should allow some time in our lives to enable our young, creative self the opportunity to breathe. That person didn’t go away. It’s still in you, but you pushed the thoughts into the farthest reaches of your mind. You convinced yourself that that particular part of you wasn’t going to bring you good anymore so you stuck it away. Release it.
What is the creative part of you that you enjoyed most as a child? Think of the games you played, and the activities that brought you the most joy. How can you replicate them as an adult? When was your excitement the highest? Can you replicate any of these activities today, or at least do something similar? Give it some thought.
Now, think back to the things you always wanted to do when you were younger, but as you grew up you realized they were unachievable for whatever reason. More often than not, it was due to time, money, or both. Can you in some fashion take on those goals and dreams today? Let your mind wander to see how you could go about letting that part of you grow.
There’s more than meets the eye to this plan. It isn’t to simply allow your brain the opportunity to escape. The constant repetition of this creative activity or behavior will begin to manifest itself inside you. What does that mean? It will funnel into other areas of your life without you even noticing it. You’ll become more of an imaginative dreamer again at work. You’ll become more optimistic with your views on society and current events. You’ll be more of an exciting, adventurous individual when you interact with your friends and family. You will allow yourself to become the rounded, wonderful person you always thought you could be. You’ll just finally stop suppressing the part of you that you were led to believe was in everyone’s best interests to give up on.
Never let it go. Never give up your imagination. It fuels your creativity. Your creativity enables you to stay adventurous. Don’t ever let that person die.
Phil Your Day 