This is one of my pictures that I keep in my journal.  When I want to really get in touch with my inner child one of the simplest ways to do that is to just take a look at “me”.    When you are writing about incidents from your childhood it is so helpful if you can pull out the pictures of that age period that you would like to record.  Remember back to who you were.  Look deeply into the picture, what do you see, what do you remember?  I can remember taking this picture as though it were yesterday because this dress my mom picked out was not what I wanted to wear.  It was blue with a built in red tie hanging down, I thought it looked like a boy.  My overwhelming disappointment in my dress selection is clearly seen in my eyes. 

Writing about our childhood and going back to that time can sometimes be painful.  Connecting to our inner child is a great gift of writing.  The things you love doing now, are they things you loved to do as a child?  I still love to ride my bike all over town, much like I enjoyed as a child.  I used to roller skate around the neighborhood, now I have inline skates.  Reading was always a favorite of mine and still is, books could take me on a journey of discovery.  I used to love to listen to the radio (KFRC and KLIV were my favorite stations).  I have always loved dogs and of course still do.  Remembering to be gentle with ourselves is another gift we give ourselves as we write through the episodes of our lives.

What do you love remembering about your childhood?  What are the memories that you find painful to write about?  How do you remember your childhood?  Some of my students have the most beautiful stories of their childhood and others have horrible stories of pain and heartache.  How did your childhood lead you to become the person you are today?