Learn To Be A Child Again
Learn To Be A Child Again
What if everything you've worked for suddenly became irrelevant?
A decade ago, my articles would get hundreds of thousands of views overnight, often ranking in the top articles on Medium. Yesterday, I woke up to 10 views on my latest piece. Nobody messaged telling me they love my work. Most people don't even know my name.
This feeling is new. And it's exciting.
I still remember the dopamine rush as I refreshed the page, watching the view count climb by thousands every minute. Now, I savor the quiet satisfaction of crafting each sentence, regardless of who might read it.
Learning to be a beginner is one of the hardest things, especially as you get older. It is scary to start something new from scratch.
What if I've lost my touch?
What if I can't navigate this new landscape?
What if others see me as a failure?
Am I setting myself up for embarrassment?
But then I remember: children don't overthink. They simply do.
On a recent walk, my mother reminded me of my childhood. As a baby, I was incredibly active and eager to learn. I constantly tried to roll, sit, walk, and talk, reaching milestones early. My first word was "nฦฐแปc," meaning water in Vietnamese - a complex word for a baby. Back then, I didn't worry about mistakes. I just tried, failed, and tried again.
This memory sparked something in me. Recently, I found some old drafts filled with article ideas from many years ago, before I even started publishing. Reading through them, I realized I've come full circle - that same raw excitement for writing is back, uninhibited by metrics or expectations.
Every endeavor carries risk.
If I do something new, I might disappoint others.
If I don't, I'll certainly disappoint myself.
In the end, there's only one person whose opinion truly matters: me.
So I write, I learn, I grow - not for views or praise, but for the joy of learning, creation and the thrill of new beginnings.
I spent decades becoming who I am today.
Now I'm learning to unlearn, to be who I was years ago.
Learning to be a child again.
As I embark on this new chapter, I wonder: have you ever rediscovered a passion and found it more fulfilling the second time around?
Hi Cammi. I rediscovered hand-making. As a teenager my now mother in law taught me to crochet. It was ok, but I was a very anxious person, so anxious in fact that my stitch tension was too tight and my projects came out about 60% of the intended size. I lost interest. When we moved away after college life got in the way, but I picked it back up a few times by learning to knit. I didnโt like knitting because I had to count stitches and I wasnโt that focused. But then I discovered looms simple plastic rectangles with no counting. At the end of the shape you leave a post unused and turn back the other way. I was hooked. Itโs turned into a passion that grew to semi-automated looms too. Then during the pandemic I began to crochet again and I now design my own patterns - of late from visions I have in dreams. Iโm about to post my second article in a series about design. Youโre right. Encouraging our tendency to child-like wonder is so healthy!
Letโs all become children again. Our child is never too far away he didnโt left we just donโt notice, not listen to it.