What is you, and what is your inner child?

Did you do everything you wanted to during your childhood?

What childhood experiences have stuck with you? 

Your “inner child” is a part of your subconscious. It holds emotions, memories, beliefs from the past, and hopes and dreams for the future. Many believe that this part of your subconscious affects the day-to-day life of every adult. 

Wyatt Aramburu, a senior at LHS, thinks that the experiences people have as adolescents affect their everyday life. It is interesting because everyone thinks of the concept of an inner child differently.

“I grew up wearing Walmart clothes since I was growing so much. It wasn’t a bad thing, but now that I make my own money, I will go buy name brands and stuff more often just because I never have,” Aramburu said. 

Doing the things that once seemed out of the realm of possibility as an adult feels that much sweeter.

Sarah Nave, a teacher at LHS, thinks that we carry things with us from our childhood and learn from them. Whether a good or traumatic experience, it is important to keep them with us so that we can recognize getting ourselves into the same situation. 

“Keep the things that happened as a child with you,” Nave said.

Childhood is the most important part of being a person, so the idea that people carry their traumas and good memories with them is not far out of reach. 

Drawing connections between childhood experiences and how they may still be subtly guiding adult behavior. 

A trend on TikTok has bounced around about the idea of remembering who one is talking to when talking badly about oneself.

I personally believe in the inner child and the idea that our inner child can affect our day-to-day life. What I once wanted as a child but could not have; I can now have and get myself. My childhood was joyful and generally easy, so I am blessed to have very little intense childhood trauma. I do always think and admire the idea of thinking about the young me when I am thinking badly of myself. 

The idea of the subconscious inner child was given to me by a podcast I occasionally listen to and take certain ideas and practices from. I have a picture of me when I was five years old on my bathroom mirror, so I know she is who I am talking to when I don’t like the reflection looking back at me. I don’t like to be mean to little me. It helps with self-love.