“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” 
         --Henry Miller 

The problem is we have cut ourselves off from what moves us for so long, because of family, financial, or societal obligations, to the point that many of us don’t even recognize our true selves.  It helps to uncover, sift through or recreate our childhood stories & myths.  We must remember a time when our passion was foremost in our lives, when we didn’t put ourselves last.  Our true passion and yearnings never left us, they have always been there waiting for us to reclaim them.  The process of remembering childhood memories puts us back in touch with those feelings of inspiration and excitement from when we were motivated by joy, (not obligation). 

In the last few years I have talked to many people who know they are ready to do what they love, if only they knew what it was.  How do you begin the uncovering process?  We must think back to our experiences of play.  What did play mean for you?  Were you digging in the dirt, making things out of wood, exploring, caring for animals, researching, making plays and acting in them, hiding?  As children my sister and I would take small pieces of plastercine every day from school.  At home we would build our “dream houses” filled with tiny imaginative rooms, with secret passageways, furniture, mazes, complete with characters.  Everyday a new room would be added.  Today I have a passion for creating small spaces, little worlds you can interact with and for creating the characters for them.  The most powerful things for you will be the ones in which as a child you lost all sense of time and space, and sometimes had to be pulled away from by your parents. 

It is with this childhood sense of play that we must approach our lives today.  This is your gift,  It is unique to you.  It is our key to what we should be doing daily in our lives, and a direct route into accessing the present moment and living fully aware. 

Once you determine what it is you loved doing as a child, it helps to determine what it was that excited you about it.  For example:  Reading is a common childhood pastime.  Your choice of books as a child will give you many clues as to what moves you.  Are the characters involved in adventures, solving mysteries, funny, etc.?  What did you like about the story?  If you spent hours riding your bike, were you excited about racing, competing with others or the feeling of freedom it gave you?  Were you alone or were you with people when you played?  If you played with dolls, was it the nurturing aspect of taking care of others, or the creation of different characters (acting)? 

During grade school I can remember faking illness regularly to get out of classes.  Even at age 7 I found the whole process of school to be restrictive and creatively devoid.  Once at home I would watch episodes of “Mr. Dressup” and became excited when during his “craft” segment he would make a funny character out of an egg carton, some wool, and a marker.  I would spent my “sick” days happily gluing, cutting, scouring the house for scraps of wool, old fabric pieces, bits of cardboard or whatever I could find.  Thus began a career of drawing and making “something from nothing”.  (I’m sure my mother noticed that my health quickly returned once Mr. Dressup commenced.)  There were people making a living doing this!  I knew then that it must be possible! 

Other examples: 

Comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell was obsessed with Native Indians as a kid.  He received some books on the subject as a gift, and started to decorate his room with images of native folklore.  As an adult he realized that with his office he had recreated his childhood room unknowingly. 

Film director Bonnie Hunt (Return to Me, Only you, Green Mile, Jerry Maguire), got her love of movies from her mother at a young age.  “She (her mother), used to circle it in the TV guide when there was a great movie on WGN.  She’d make Chef Boyardee pizza and wake us up at 11:30 pm to get us ready to watch the movie.  It was a big deal.”  “I love it when people have the group experience of a good story!”  excerpt from Now Magazine.  article “Bonnie Hunt’s TLC”  by Ingrid Randoja 

Carl Jung spent hours as a child creating little cities out of stones.  As an adult he created a life size tower in Bollingen, Germany as a personal retreat.  The tower was surrounded by stone sculptures that Jung himself carved, all bearing quotes and phrases, some included iconography from his dreams.