So much of our lives are filled with masks and armor.
We cover our bodies with clothes, but we also cover our emotions, instincts, and natural desires with thick-plated layers of expectation, performance, and protection. Over time, we forget what it feels like to be unfiltered.
Today, I walked the River Bottoms Trail with my beautiful little granddaughter, Millie.
She is uninhibited. Fully expressed. Completely unapologetic.
She cries when she needs to. She laughs freely. She reaches her hand to her heart when she is hungry. She growls at the doggies She does not negotiate with her truth. She simply lives it.
Watching her is captivating. Intoxicating. Sacred.
She knows—deep in her bones—the grandeur of her own soul.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Oliver Wendell Holmes:
“For the simplicity on this side of complexity, I would not give a fig. But for the simplicity on the other side of complexity, for that I would give my life.”
As children, we sing. We dance. We laugh. We play. We touch.
And then, somewhere along the way, the very essence of our true nature is slowly squashed out of us.
I am increasingly convinced that the most important destination of our lives is not forward—it is back.
The journey back to remembering who we really are.
The essence of our nature.
The essence of our soul.
No amount of striving, working, achieving, producing, or accumulating can ever measure up to the quiet grandeur of learning—again—to express ourselves openly and honestly, the way children do.
I am not convinced we ever fully return there while trapped in egoic postures and cluttered, chaotic lives. But if we are diligent… if we create daily practices… if we consciously steer the direction of our lives…
One of the great gifts of aging is not just wisdom.
It is the gift of glimpses—
moments of childlike wonder returning.
And sometimes, all it takes is a walk with a grandchild to remind us what we have never truly lost.
For a fun video retelling of this experience, click here.
With clarity,
Rich Christiansen
