That Adventurous Inner Child

My grandpa recalls the same stories every time I visit them when I’m back in Minnesota. The favorite black flowered dress I would wear for days on end. The hours I’d spend playing dress-up with my grandma’s jewelry & heels. Watching me play in the mud puddles with my brother as he plowed the field in our front yard.

As he was reminiscing these stories yet again he said “You were always an adventurous little girl, up for anything. You’d jump right in.” 

I remember a lot of experiences & events from my childhood, but I don’t remember a lot of who I was a child. Perhaps that’s because when we’re 7 we don’t analyze ourselves like we do when we’re 27. I think we’re our truest selves before age 10. After that we have to fight for our inner child.

But I hope that adventurous little girl always speaks up. I hope I have the determination to fight for the sense of innocence & idealism that keeps her alive; the spirit that’s not afraid to be bold.

Do you remember who your inner child was? The one that wasn’t afraid to be? 

Hope is January White

A perfectly suited song for a New Year’s Day. If you haven’t heard of Sleeping at Last, listen to this song & fall in music love!! :)

so let’s press undo.
rearrange the old and call it new-
january white.

every calendar is playing the same old trick:
a year will disappear, replaced with counterfeit
but we’ll never really mind.

‘cause if nothing else, we’re given a little time
to change the game, a chance to redefine
everything we are,
in our january white.

this year is a sealed envelope,
a culmination of hopes,
the lottery result that we’ve been crossing fingers for.

we could paint our walls a lighter shade of blue,
or we could pack our bags and change the entire view
to january white.

if nothing else, we’re given a little time
to change the heart in which we change our minds;
our hourglasses turn.

this year is a sealed envelope;
with apprehensive hope
we brace for anything.
i swear, i understand that nothing changes that,
the past will be the past,
but the future is brighter than any flashback.

well, we could let our guards down a little easier this time,
we could trust that when there’s joy, there’s nothing dark behind.
in spite of history,
hope is january white.

this year, we’re starting over again
letter openers in hand,
a chance to take a chance.
i swear, i understand that the past will be the past,
and nothing changes that,
but the future is brighter than any flashback.

“January White” by Sleeping at Last