I had a life coach that once encouraged me to pick an age from my past and spend half a day doing what I would have loved to do at that age.
I picked 6 years old. I went to a pinball arcade in the Haight, and rode my bike all the way out to Ocean Beach. Then I walked on top of walls and took a big stick and drew in the sand. It was blissful because it honored a part of me that still lives inside me.
Your post reminded me of this because you gave yourself permission to (even for an hour) to just live and enjoy your own company. Maybe it was equal parts childhood and early adulthood (I don't know, maybe you already baked as a child)?
I know nothing about being a parent, but my hunch is parents giving themselves moments like can make them better parents. When the parent is happy, the child picks up on that. They feel happy and safer. Children want their parents to be happy. Maybe it makes them feel like they are doing their job too.
I love that story, Kiran! I'm sure there's so much more to that experience you could expand upon, too. I imagine there was a sense of invincibility that day. Now I'm reminiscing about San Francisco. Despite always wanting to go, I don't think I ever made it to the pinball arcade. Did Photojojo ever go as a group? I do recall a bar with some pinball machines, though... I'm sure there were many. SF will always be such a pivotal time for many of us.
(Okay now I'm going down a rabbit hole of other "child-like" experiences, and setting off fireworks in Thailand and then jumping off that crazy moving dock is definitely one of them. I can still recall the sound of all of us laughing.)
"When the parent is happy, the child picks up on that." - This is so true.
Free Gold Watch is the arcade/silkscreening business in the Haight. Never went with Photojojo as a group. Those Thailand memories are great. I never want to be a person who wouldn’t jump off that dock 🙂
I had a life coach that once encouraged me to pick an age from my past and spend half a day doing what I would have loved to do at that age.
I picked 6 years old. I went to a pinball arcade in the Haight, and rode my bike all the way out to Ocean Beach. Then I walked on top of walls and took a big stick and drew in the sand. It was blissful because it honored a part of me that still lives inside me.
Your post reminded me of this because you gave yourself permission to (even for an hour) to just live and enjoy your own company. Maybe it was equal parts childhood and early adulthood (I don't know, maybe you already baked as a child)?
I know nothing about being a parent, but my hunch is parents giving themselves moments like can make them better parents. When the parent is happy, the child picks up on that. They feel happy and safer. Children want their parents to be happy. Maybe it makes them feel like they are doing their job too.
I love that story, Kiran! I'm sure there's so much more to that experience you could expand upon, too. I imagine there was a sense of invincibility that day. Now I'm reminiscing about San Francisco. Despite always wanting to go, I don't think I ever made it to the pinball arcade. Did Photojojo ever go as a group? I do recall a bar with some pinball machines, though... I'm sure there were many. SF will always be such a pivotal time for many of us.
(Okay now I'm going down a rabbit hole of other "child-like" experiences, and setting off fireworks in Thailand and then jumping off that crazy moving dock is definitely one of them. I can still recall the sound of all of us laughing.)
"When the parent is happy, the child picks up on that." - This is so true.
Free Gold Watch is the arcade/silkscreening business in the Haight. Never went with Photojojo as a group. Those Thailand memories are great. I never want to be a person who wouldn’t jump off that dock 🙂
A delicious read...thank you 😊