You know when you were a kid running around like crazy and getting into all kinds of adventures (aka trouble) and making lots of noise and laughing a lot?
My brother and I as kids
Then, some adult, usually your parent or teacher would say, “Calm down and use your inside voice”.
And then, slowly and strangely, somewhere down the line, we become the adult?
Yah, well, sorry but we’re changing back. Britton and I have had a complete revolution from our life as adults and are turning back into kids again. It wasn’t exactly a calculated decision. It just sort of happened. Kind of like becoming adults. We have just sort of become kids again.
We spend so much time now just living and playing and laughing at all our mistakes and the strangeness of life again that it was bound to happen. We are outdoors so much more and are doing so many things that kids would do, we sometimes have to remind ourselves that there are still people who have to wake up at a prescribed time, stay in the lines, keep doors shut, wear clothes (or shoes), have schedules and clocks, and act “normal”.
We don’t anymore.
We now have extra time for whatever. The first things that start to come back when you return to being a kid again are creative pursuits like art, music and games.
Learning to play the guitar
I have heard that a good guide for where you should orient yourself in setting your life’s path/purpose is to ask yourself what you loved to do as a kid. A kid of around 10-12, when you knew a little bit about your choices and preferences, but you still just knew how to have fun and not take things so seriously. Give it a try and see what you come up with and how it aligns with your life now.
When I was a kid I LOVED summertime, swimming and animals. If I could have designed my life when I was about 10 years old it would have been a constant summer of swimming, playing with friends, reading, drawing, learning new things and having lots and lots of animals.
Now: Lotsa turkeys!
When Britton was a kid he had a BB gun, went swimming daily in the summers, messed around with technical gadgets, played guitar and bass, played outside with friends and enjoyed video games.
Sounds pretty close! We’ve added in a few other interests, but basically…our lives have come full circle back to being kids again. Kids with a few more responsibilities, but a kid’s life none-the-less.
Still, sometimes we get caught in our old, adult-like ways. For instance, talking at a relatively normal indoor volume. When we are outside we are often busy with something: turkeys or chickens, pulling weeds, watering plants, sawing down trees, making trails, etc. And so if we talk normally to one another and are on two sides of the yard, we can’t hear each other and so we end up saying it multiple times. So now, we remind each other to “use your outside voice!”
Just today we took a long walk around the property. With four acres of jungle, this is not a quick or easy task. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to hike around and clear some trails.
On a huge upturned tropical almond tree in the bottom of the quebrada of the property
We have many large mango trees all over the jungle and so we are going to call it mango tree trail.
Mango tree at the base of the quebrada that would make a great treehouse or campfire area (when dry)
It is pretty amazing, actually, that we haven’t even really seen half the property. But it makes it fun too…every kid loves doing some exploring. And we always find cool stuff.
Not sure what plant this is but it was growing on top of another plant
There is a huge shell ginger plant that is growing from the front gate area all the way down the slope
The peach tree has even flowered!
It has been such a kick to be a kid in a grown-up’s body. Sure there are those pesky responsibilities that we didn’t have as kids, but there are also all those resources we didn’t have then too. And don’t forget the things that you wanted and weren’t allowed as kids, we now CAN have and do as adults. It’s the best of both worlds, really.
And I don’t mind saying that loudly.