Creativity is often seen as a childlike quality, and it’s not hard to see why. Kids don’t have the same responsibilities and they have more time to play and explore, so they tend to be more imaginative than adults. However, carving out enough time for that inner child can be a challenge. Thanks to the pressures of adult life, many adults have lost touch with their playful selves and need encouragement in order to reconnect with their inner child. If you’re looking for ways to bring out your inner child and unleash your creativity, read on! Here are some helpful suggestions that will help you access your childlike imagination again without losing adult sense:
Try a new activity
If you’ve been fretting that you don’t have outlets for your creative juices anymore, then perhaps it’s time to try a new activity. Try signing up for a class. Many community colleges offer classes such as floral arrangment or cake decorating. Stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s often have classes for various home improvement projects. There are a ton of tutorials offered on YouTube and it’s completely free. Want to try out painting? Check out Michelle the Painter on YouTube. She teaches acrylic paintings step-by-step. Whatever it is, try something new to get you out of your rut and remind you what it was like to let your imagination run wild.
Get messy
Being a kid is messy, but that’s what makes it fun! According to Tim Harford, the author of Messy, surrounding ourselves with mess and disarray heightens our alertness. Being more alert makes us more creative, innovative, and resilient. Now I’m not saying never clean again, but just realize that a little mess isn’t bad. Maybe let the dishes sit in the sink a little longer and spend that time doing something more creative, like doodling or painting. Letting your creative juices flow by being messy might just help you to connect with your inner child again.
Play with new materials
Try channelling your inner child by playing with new materials. Drawing with colored pencils, using paint, and playing with clay are all great ways to use materials in a new and imaginative way. I love ink drawing, but I’ve recently started to try pencil drawing to change things up a bit. Shading with an ink pen and shading with a pencil are two very different things! While my pencil drawings are nowhere near as good as my ink drawings, the challenge of learning a new skill is worth it. I find that learning new skills like pencil drawing and painting have caused me to think about things differently. When I see a beautiful sunset, I think about how I could paint it – what colors and techniques would I use to create it. Or what shapes an object is made up of and where the shadows and light fall on it.
Reconnect with your childhood self
If you feel like you need to reconnect with your childhood self, a great way to do so is by talking to an old friend or your family. It’s amazing what nostalgia can do for not only your creativity, but your mood! Whenever we have a family get-together, my sister, brother, and I spend time talking about our childhood and the things we all experienced together. We can spend hours laughing and telling stories. Remembering yourself as a child and the crazy, imaginative, and sometimes dangerous things you did (like that one time I jumped off the barn roof with an umbrella because I had just watched Mary Poppins for the first time) can inspire you to embrace your inner child a bit more. Watch movies that you loved as a child, eat your favorite foods from your childhood, and listen to music that you used to blast back in the day! And if you can’t remember anything great about your childhood, give your inner child exactly what they wanted and needed when you were a kid!
Slow down and take a walk
As an adult, I often feel overwhelmed by everything I have to get done. When I’m at work, I’m thinking about everything I need to get done at home. When I’m at home, I’m thinking about everything I still have to do at work. It’s never-ending! It’s time to slow down and live in the present. Taking a walk in nature is a great way to slow yourself down. Leave your phone at home and just be alone with yourself. Just know that your ego is going to be a whiny bitch and repeatedly try to remind you of everything you’ve got to do. Acknowledge the thought your ego is giving you and then let it go. Tell your ego that everything is fine. Your life is broken up into many moments of fulfilling your life’s purpose, and, at this moment, your life’s purpose is to take a walk and enjoy the beauty around you. You’re doing exactly what you need to be doing at that moment.
Doodle or coloring exercise
If you’ve been wanting to let your creativity flow again, but you’re not sure what to do, then try a doodle or a coloring exercise. Drawing or coloring is a great way to relax and release your creative side so that you can bring some creativity back into your life. When I was a kid, I would get a black marker and scribble on a paper with it, and then I would color in the different shapes I made with other colors. I recently tried this again, and it’s an incredibly relaxing activity to do. Adult coloring books are another great option to get your creative juices flowing. I have an app on my phone called Happy Color. I love opening it up and coloring a picture or two when I’m feeling really overwhelmed. It’s a great way to take some time out and do something your childhood self would have loved.
Free writing
Have you ever tried free writing? It’s when you just start writing anything that comes into your mind. It’s a great way to check in with your inner child. Simply start your free writing with a question you would like to ask your inner child. You can ask your inner child if she is proud of who you’ve become, or ask her if there is anything she thinks you should be doing differently. And then just write anything that comes to your mind. You may be surprised at what your inner child tells you. This is a great way to find out what trauma you are still holding on to from your childhood because it’s coming directly from your inner child.
I hope these tips will inspire you to connect with your inner child. What are some things you do to connect with your inner child?