Childlike Expressions | Another Chance

Adulthood is all things serious—so serious. It involves paying bills, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, going to work, tending to relationships, remaining astute to the current times or shifts within culture, and all other things or conceptions considered "adulting".

Many desire adulthood when young and resent it “sometimes” when older. As “adulting” requires many responsibilities, including the excitement and challenges of life, curating childlike qualities and expressions can help.

Although adulting can be difficult occasionally, observing children's carefree expressions, beliefs, and imaginations should be admired and mirrored. Children's ability to adapt, learn, and remain resilient should also be admired and reflected in adulthood.

Consistently creating childlike experiences within us (personally or professionally) gives us another chance to express ourselves freely.

It’s about being child-ish, but childlike.

THE RESILIENCE OF CHILDREN

Nurtured and cared for in the right environment, children can be extremely resilient and intelligent beings. Specifically, when observing children in their infant and early childhood ages, they consistently analyze, assess, and process information due to their brains' development. Children also possess the capacity to learn multiple languages, overcome illnesses, and explore more.

Liquin and Gopnik (2022) argue that children appear to be more exploratory than adults, and this exploration seems to help children learn. A study revealed that children exposed to adult-like evidence learn like adults, and adults exposed to childlike evidence learn like children, which supports the idea that children may be more exploratory than adults (ScienceDirect).

Children's brains are also more plastic or changeable, meaning they can form new connections and pathways that allow them to learn new skills and information quickly (Joe Phelan, 2023).

Basic observations also show children to be more courageous, blunt, bold, and careless in their approach to certain things, which “at times” can be beneficial. However, most aging children learn when to use these qualities after being taught what's appropriate and what's not.

ANOTHER CHANCE | KEEP THE IMAGINATION ALIVE

Some people lose their imagination or ability to dream by adulthood, if not late teenage years. This can be due to life challenges, grief, lack of access to resources and community or network, being crushed by others’ opinions and projections, and, most often, “personal doubt.”

Childlike expressions remind us to keep our imaginations alive. It's not through “Arrested Development” that we forget we are adults and have responsibilities to attend to, but rather to create space for things that keep our imagination alive.

Whether planning a new adventure, shifting careers, moving to a new city, or recovering from life’s difficulties, keep your imagination (a sense of hope) alive.

IT’S SERIOUS || JUST NOT THAT SERIOUS

Not to sound redundant, but it’s essential to remain astute and steward our adult responsibilities. Adulting is serious, but NOT that serious.

As adulting teaches the importance of building a consistent routine in our day-to-day needs and responsibilities, implementing things that create a sense of play, ease, imagination, or “childlike” expressions is equally essential.

To simply rest (take a nap), play a sport for “FUN,” sign up for a dance class, go skating, bake, color, play a card game, write, etc.- any activity or hobby that exhilarates or fuels your youthfulness. Or, take a professional risk -- whether it fails or succeeds. BE CHIDLIKE!

Again, we are not seeking to be “Child-ish”, but Childlike!

"Do more things that bring out your inner child"

Picture from The Open School