A Hint of Where You Might Be Headed

As children, we are largely unaware of the restrictions of adult life. We are open to dreaming about what we could be. We aren’t so aware or afraid of how we express and present ourselves. I believe we all come into this life with a purpose, a mission—it's a seed within us planted before birth. Something that we can water and grow, a dream that may flourish in our adult life if we listen to our hearts and allow ourselves to let it be seen.

Nurturing Your Inner Garden

If we allow our dreams to grow, nurture them, speak to them with kindness, and give them the care they require, we create a garden in our soul. The plants we water grow; the ones we pay attention to flourish. When we get quiet and listen within, we can feel their presence in the dark soil, their silent whispers asking for our care and attention.

As we grow through childhood, people may start to see our sprouts. They might think they are weeds—our flowers may not native to their unique garden, and they feel threatened. They might pick the weeds, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been uprooted—perhaps just stifled temporarily. As a result we may begin to see our flowers as weeds as well, causing us to neglect them and stifle their growth.

We each have our own special gift to offer this world, like an herb or weed with its unique essence and medicine. We must water our garden, be curious, protect it in its early stages, and allow the flowers to bloom. We must keep going and keep growing, no matter where we are planted.

Watering Your Garden: Reflecting on Childhood Joys

What has always brought you joy? How imaginative were you before you were told to quiet down or to stop being crazy? The hints are there—in your early years. Your soul longs to connect with the pure child energy inside of you that never left when it was stifled.

Can you remember that little girl or boy within? Would they be proud of you now? What did they wish you had created?

In middle school, I had an extremely difficult time. I was shy and unsure of myself, sensitive in sharing my gifts but aware of what I loved: art, creation, graphic design, and photography. I wrote this in a school project—a hope for my future in 15 years. As time went on, I lost confidence and direction, feeling lost in a sea of judgement and the expectations of those around me. I stifled my own creations and hopes for the future, I hid my flowers in the dark.

Picture of a school scrapbook project when I was 12 years old.

Finding Myself Again

It wasn’t until I connected back to my own heart through practices like yoga and mindfulness during my first year of college that I realized something was off—I had lost my way; I was neglecting my garden. I changed my major, moved to a new college, and found myself through a re-connection to nature, curiosity and playfulness.

Much later, while visiting home, I came across that old school project pictured above. To my amazement, without even remembering what I had written years ago, I had created the life of my dreams by following my heart and watering my garden, sensing those seeds that were planted long ago deep within. I graduated from college with my degree in graphic design, madsmakesmagic was born, I moved to a small town in the Texas Hill Country and bought a bus to travel in allowing me to work from anywhere.

Play and childlike joy—fairies, laughter, fun, and openness—helped me reconnect with my younger self, asking her what she wanted. Now I feel that I am on the path of my heart. I am making my inner child proud. I am actively tending to my garden and its ever changing needs. The journey continues to unfold. My inner child is always asking me to be seen, heard, and cared for. It’s our foundation of life— our pure essence before we’re defined and molded by others.

A Final Invitation

When’s the last time you thought about your child self? Hold their hand, invite them to play. They have a gift for you if you’re willing to receive it. Ask them what they want, what they need to feel cared for. Can you give them that gift? In return you may receive the clarity you’ve been searching for, and realize that it’s actually been within you all along.