Inner Child
Lately I’ve been talking to my inner eleven year old.
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Eleven is a potent age. To me, it feels deeply fleeting and super transitional. Considered by experts as “middle childhood”, this is a time where we begin to become more aware of our changing body, develop more complex friendships and feel varying degrees of peer pressure. Puberty looms, and a more simple childhood begins to fade away. “Eleven-year-olds are a combination of silliness and seriousness,” says Dr. Ann Goering, “They have one foot in childhood and one foot in the pre-teens."
In many ways, eleven is a bittersweet farewell to our childhood selves. There may be a creeping awareness in us at this time of just how fleeting life is. Or perhaps we are still in a state of ignorant bliss. Either way, we are on the precipice of change at this precious age.
When I connect with my inner eleven year old, she is quick to respond to me. She’s chatty and bright, keen to comment on my life and tell me what's up. It feels tender and meaningful to dialogue with this part of me. She’s been waiting for this attention impatiently. These are her suggestions (slash demands) for my adult self:
✸ More dancing
✸ More fantasy
✸ BIG TREES all the time (not quite sure what that meant but I loved the pure bluntness of this direction)
✸ More time away from ‘work’
✸ More time for fun and silliness
✸ More Grandparent time (this one really moved me - all my grandparents have passed but this request has led me to connect with my husband’s grandparents, and my own deceased relatives in other ways - for example, cooking meals that remind me of my Nana)
Connecting to a particular aspect of your inner child like this is a pillar of my inner work, and my work with clients. It is such rich terrain, leading to deeper connections with self and a rewarding sense of comfort. It creates the conditions for a sense of inner belonging.
I wonder what wisdom your inner eleven year old has to share with you?
