Artwork is the voice that speaks the truth from the heart that words are incapable of expressing. It is the voice of heart – that is the quiet child within. It is the release from the untethered soul. It is the lifelong desire of the child locked away, who for years has wanted to be held, and finally found an escape through color, form, and movement. Now they can be seen. Now they can illustrate their story. Now they can finally reassure themselves, “I am no longer alone.”
– Becky Cooper
Inner Child
I remember the sounds…
– Rebecca Emily Cooper
I remember the laughter…
I crave those moments of freedom,
completely blind to the ticking arms that moved around in a circle.
The warmth of the sun melted into my skin and kissed the surface of my mind.
I knew that feeling was love.
Not the love that people say…
but the love that you feel when no words are spoken.
I crave the way the breeze felt as it brushed the features of my small hands, arms, circling around my knees before it swoops up to tickle my face.
The way it made the trees dance was like they were inviting me to join them!
I crave the rainy days and the perfume of wet grass from a happy earth that is now content from being bathed.
I love a good bath too.
The day ended when the sky called goodnight.
Time to go to bed.
One day the sky turned gray…
The sun pulled back into the clouds, I couldn’t find it again…
Our body turned cold and I was so afraid… and then just numb.
The laughter stopped.
The sounds of the world around me grew quiet.
The sky was gray, then black…
Gray, then black…
The bright warm sun ran away…
The shadow of our body grew larger,
yet I stayed small.
The voices around us told you to “move on”,
“don’t tell anyone.”
“Nobody will believe you”, they said.
“It’s too painful. It’s too hard to hear.”
“The past is in the past” – yet… I’m still here.
I still feel all of it.
The cold… the pain… the loneliness…
We forgot how to play when they took our innocence away.
I’m still here.
Alone.
Afraid of the dark.
I miss the soft kisses of the sun,
and the smell of rainy days…
I still crave those moments of freedom.
The arms that move around in a circle are the only arms you look at –
what about me?
Listen to me!
The day the sky turned gray,
turned into the years stolen from me.
All I wanted to do was play
but instead I was put away.
In this cold, dark, silent room.
The place the voices tell you to store the memories away.
“Move on.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“The past is in the past” – yet… I’m still here.
The voice YOU need to listen to,
is this voice hidden within you.
It isn’t always easy to find those parts within us in need of being heard. We often feel a strong desire for others to hear us… believing that them knowing will somehow ‘fix it’… but with so much time spent wishing for others to hear us and believe us… only to be told to “move on”… We miss the important signs within us during the days, months, and years focusing everywhere – everywhere else but that voice within, calling for US to hear them.
Do we listen to our own child within?
Do we understand what they’re trying to tell us that they need?
A great book that I am studying right now has helped me to reframe my understanding of what it means to truly listen to our Inner Child, sometimes more than one, who have been wrongfully hidden away back into the dark scary parts of our mind. Once listened to, they can be set free to thrive and live out the original purpose they were created for:
📚 No Bad Parts by Dr. Richard Schwartz
Available Art Prints
Links will redirect you to my Art Print store on Society 6…
More print options can be found on Society6…
If you find this painting comforting, please feel free to share with your friends. 🙂 🎨💚
