The Voice of our Inner Child: a Pathway to Recovery.
I first became interested in the idea of inner child while I was working on a piece of creative writing 20 years ago. I had started to write a semi-autobiographical account about my childhood in South Africa. In the story, the main character’s life is turned upside down by a voice she hears, but cannot locate anywhere in the real world, outside herself. The narrator embarks on a journey to discover who the mysterious voice is, only to find out that the voice she attempts to discover is that of her very own child that resides within her. Through the creative writing process, that little voice makes itself known. The narrator in the story begins to communicate with the child’s sounds on the page.
This little voice, I was soon to discover was my inner child. She existed inside of me, but I still did not know who she was and how to reach her. Why did it matter so much? I felt there was some deeper significance to understanding this voice, for it was an important part of myself that I had no knowledge of. At the time of writing, I could not find suitable material to help me understand more about this voice, as there was very little written on the topic at the time. I wanted to understand what the meaning of this voice meant for me as a writer, a healer and a person in recovery.
Up to that point, I had experience with meditation practices. I decided to try to make contact with my inner child through meditation. I created a safe space surrounded by love and light to help facilitate an encounter. I went deep within my body to see if I could locate her anywhere. I found her huddled up in a corner. It was cold and dark place. She was about five or six years old. She was petrified and could not move, holding her knees to her chest. I tried to reach out to her, but I was also overwhelmed by the encounter. I had to come to terms with what I had seen and deal with my emotions. I felt a great sense of loss at seeing her like that and I felt her pain. I knew too that I had to forge a relationship with her to help heal us both. I continued to look for her and gain her trust. I told her that I knew she was sad, but that I was here now and I was going to take care of her. She eventually allowed me to hold her and give her all the love and protection she had not received.
Years later, awareness of the role of the inner child started to came to light. I knew that learning more about this part of ourselves was part of my calling. I decided to do more research to discover different tools and ways of helping others integrate aspects of their inner child, so that they too could connect with their own inner child. In this way, they could heal aspects of themselves that they were not aware of. They too could discover the potential and power that resides within the inner child, the golden child in each one of us. Our inner child allows us to understand that we may still be feeling angry, lost, sad, depressed, lonely or neglected. These emotions are not negative, for they may help us to recognize part/s of ourselves that are in need of comforting and healing. Finding our inner child allows us to make peace with our past, so that our present is more fulfilling, more meaningful. When we take steps to embark on this journey, we are enabled to heal our inner child, as well as ourselves. This is the gift of the inner child.
I still continue to nurture my inner child. When I reassure her that all is well, I am acknowledging her presence. In that very moment, healing occurs.
by Claudia Zucca
