Healing the Inner-Child

[The Maven]

A little background on myself, I am a young adult who has been bummed out for a while now, emotionally or mentally I have no more energy. No motivation, no drive, no passion, no self-confidence. I pretty much prefer staying at home in my "safe zone", I hardly try new stuff out, and when I do, it's usually an unpleasant experience that involves stress, anxiety, negative thoughts, pessimism, etc. I only really try new things when I have to, otherwise, I'll just stick to my comfy zone, thank you very much.

What can be done about this? How can I find my drive? I suspect I have deep wounds from my childhood that are holding me back, but what can I do about that? Or maybe it's something else? Nothing is motivating me, and very little in this world interests me, but then again, my horizons are limited.

Help?

[J.K.]

Hey Maven...  

The title of your post reminds me of Peter Gabriel's song, "Digging In The Dirt." - It's one of my favs..

Anyway, I guess there are so many things that can be suggested (meditation,  study, psychology, etc..) but I just have a simple suggestion.

Find an image that you can identify with as your inner child.  For example, here's mine ( http://spider-food.net/astuff/lilman.jpg ) - Once you find that, turn it into your avatar; the image that you use online.  If you need any help with that just PM me and I'll be glad to assist.

Thereafter, as you post and use IM - find within yourself the voice of that inner child.  Begin to associate with it.  Let it speak. - After doing this for a while you'll be surprised how easy it can be to slip into.  Then, once you've found that small inner voice let him or her laugh again.  Let him or her 'play.'  Just have some fun speaking through that inner voice.

The inner child is very real and very much a part of us - just as much as our adult side. Unfortunately, as we're growing up pressure from our parents and pressure from our peers teaches us to suppress our inner child.  We're told we have to "grow up" - "be serious" etc...  But IMHO, this is not all good.  

Using this lil suggestion can help you regain touch with that inner voice - who prolly just wants to laugh and have a little fun.  Once that's done, we often experience a healing.  It can be quite a kick.  lol

Then finally, here's a lil poem for ya....    

---------------

Sweet child of God and rhyme
a wonder and parable told
in seized moments of experience
Can i know your soul and free thinking
who do you pray to ?
these child prayers of heaven in your short lived truths
always ruining to become
In childlike wisdom you wonder
is freedom not walked in bare feet
the shiny stone a child secret
that you might joy for the first time
and bless the Angel with song
these deeper things of heaven for the child....
.
.

[Selski]

J.K. - that's just beautiful.

Thank you.

Sarah

[Telos]

Maven, I'm sure you have been asked this question a million times, but, what are you interested in?

I find it helps to write it all out. The mind kicks in with its natural organizational abilities during writing. Please feel free to write about your interests in this forum - those of similar interest will engage you in them!

[Naiad780]

No Message Text

[The Maven]

J.K. - When I think childhood, I think negatively. I'm not saying it was horrible, but I wasn't a happy child at all. So to try and find an image of it or associate myself with it is quite a challenge. Doing so wouldn't make me feel good, it would make me feel bad. I'm kind of embarrassed of it, to be honest.

Telos - That's the thing. I don't have a lot of interests. Well, I do have a couple, but I wouldn't say that's what will drive me in life, they are hobbies.

Naiad780 - That might certainly be part of it. Almost every day I have negative memories of events from the past popping in my head, and it does beat me up. BTW - If you would ask me to tell you about a positive event from my childhood, I'd have a hard time finding one. Ask me negative ones, and we could talk about it all night. Please share what you had in mind.

[Naiad780]

No Message Text

[Telos]

Telos - That's the thing. I don't have a lot of interests. Well, I do have a couple, but I wouldn't say that's what will drive me in life, they are hobbies.

What are they, if you don't me asking?

[The Maven]

Electronics, spying, spirituality (I am here after all), video editing, creating music, etc.

[Telos]

What do you think of high resolution photography? You might like this article I just found yesterday on Wired. (The article isn't as important as the photo gallery!)

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66498,00.html

Also, check out the website they refer to for even more beautiful examples.

http://www.gigapxl.org/

[Bonden]

You can try saying sentences again and again like(affirmations), I enjoy testing new things!  I like the way I am! and so on.

Naiad780's advice seems very good but just logical thinking may not always help if you have been feeling that way for a long time. The feeling can be very deep in your sub-conscious mind and just logical thinking about it may not help in all cases.

An example is someone being afraid of spiders which can't hurt you. However their sub-conscious mind keep telling them it dangerous.

When saying affirmations [Edit] you manipulates your sub-conscious mind and eventually you will enjoy testing new things. I think you should try Naiad780's method and if you still doesn't feel good maybe you should give this a try.

Good luck!

[Orro]

*sigh*

I don't even have an inner child, I have an inner adult.

But I'm depressive. So that would affect things slightly.

[The Maven]

Telos - No, photography doesn't really interest me that much, although I do enjoy looking at other people's photographs of scenery.

Orro - Everyone has an inner-child as far as I know.

Everyone Else - Guess I'll try working on it, wish I was more dedicated though...

[Tyciol]

*sigh*

I don't even have an inner child, I have an inner adult.

But I'm depressive. So that would affect things slightly.

Try and remember the cartoons and books you watched/read as a kid, and the toys you played with. Don't just remember them, seek them out, maximize the memory, your inner child will pop out so much it hurts.

[andonitxo]

Haven't read the other post so maybe I'm repeating advices.

When I have a problem of that kind I sit down, relax, close my eyes and kindly, loudly in my mind, ask that part/memory/program of my being to come and explain me what's going on.

A figure uses to pop up. Sometimes suddenly, other times in between a scene. From this on, talk to it as it would be a friend (which it is, indeed). Hug it, kiss it, ask it, scream to it,... whatever, but be sure to make it your friend.

And remember that our mind is always trying to protect us and look for safety. And sometimes a good deed ends up in a bad situation.

Step by step process:
1.Look for a good context to meditate (both mental and physical).
2.Take some deep breaths for a while.
3.Close your eyes and think of the problem worrying you.
4.Ask that "part of your mind provoking it" to appear in your mental stage.
5.Ask it about its reasons and the moment it started to work.
6.Ask it about its needs. What would it need to work in a constructive way?.
7.Comprehend that it is trying to help you in some way.
8.Hug it. Give it thanks for its work.
9.Explain to it that something is going wrong with its actuation and that you would like to fix it.
10.Deal with it.
11.Let it adopt another image after having got to an undestanding deal.
12.Let it get into your body.
13.From that moment on you'll have to take care of what you've dealt.
14.Don't miss the touch. Things and deals change as external needs change too.

Hope this may help.

[data]

Maven, you sound so much like me. In fact even our interests are almost along the same lines. I also had your problems, in psychology it is called social anxiety or emotional instability. My inner child is very wounded, and I do not know how to heal his wounds. I have taken some control of the adult, but I don't know how to reach out to my inner child.

Although, since I become spiritual and open, my problems have subsided and I have renewed energy in myself and more appreciation for life. I still find myself unable to face the world with confidence and express myself emotionally. I still am confused as to what to do with this life. I still prefer my comfort zone, and will become very anxious when I am away from it, but I'm not as attached to it as I was before. It is no longer my sanctuary.

I think only my inner child knows the real answers and I will ask him.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone on your advise on the inner child. It has really helped me come to terms with what I am still lacking - I am lacking my child and my child is lacking a father.