Somewhere inside of you there is a little firecracker. Go get her, she’s fun — Donna Ashworth.

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Do you remember when you were of the age where you climbed trees, jumped off branches, or sang at the top of your voice? Or maybe you thought nothing of speaking your mind to adults, or entertained your family and friends with dress-up and funny antics, or danced with energy? I did all those things with ease as a child. I also wanted to emulate my mother’s whistle but couldn’t quite manage at a small child so I opted to make ‘weefoo’ sounds while standing on a high object. The mind of a child is innocent, trusting, ingenious, and even a little ignorant.

And then we grow up and the firecracker fizzles out or we pack her/him away and op for a muted, mature version of ourselves. Life becomes serious. We take ourselves too seriously. Maybe I just speak for myself but I think when bills need paying; when we want to impress the boss or our piers or when we feel we need to fit in we dumb ourselves down and become drab. We loose our shine.

Of course we have to grow up and behave ourselves, especially if we want to fit in and get ahead as we make our way in adulthood. Then as we hit middle age or somewhere after that we might yearn for that spark that once dazzled with fun. I believe the firecracker is still waiting for you and me. Maybe finding that firecracker (or inner child) and incorporating it back into our lives with ingenuity might be another way of connecting with joy — or fun as Donna Ashworth puts it.

Some ways to do this.

Think of the ways you enjoyed yourself as a child. Memories might be easy to connect to but if they aren’t you could find some photos from your youth, especially ones that take you back to positive memories. I could tell you what I found fun but that would be in alignment with me. Some might love partying, crowds of people or being center stage; some might like flying or bungee jumping. I tried to fly with an umbrella like Mary Poppins once. That’s as far as my joy of flying went but Derek dreamt of flying all through his youth and loves flying microlights as an adult.

Okay, here are some of other things I found fun:

• Art, dance and words.
• Dreaming and thinking.
• Playing: Making ‘witches brew in a cauldron’. The recipe was as follows. Add a handful of sand, three gumtree leaves, a pinch of gumtree pods and stir well with water. Nowadays I love cooking, it’s fun experimenting with new flavours in the kitchen. When I make soups and stews I think of my playful days. For me it’s bubble, bubble boil and fun.
• Crafts, sewing and knitting.
• Being in nature: light sparkling on dew drops, and birds were all part of my make-believe world. Now I am passionate about Environmental issues.
• I loved being amongst the plants as a child and now I like gardening, growing fruit and vegetables. It is satisfying, rewarding and energetic therefore fun for me.
• Stories: my father made up fanciful, crazy stories on the fly for me and now I love writing the same type of ‘silly’ stories.

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I’m talking to myself, mostly –I think what takes the fun out of some of these things is when it becomes work or there’s not enough time to savour these firecracker energies. Living in the moment could help us stay in touch with our inner child or firecracker. Yesterday I mentioned making time: as I wrote about slivers of peaceful-joy today it’s about finding exuberant-fun or your firecrackers.

Go find your firecracker. It could be your passion.