“If all that I would want to do was to sit and talk to you….. would you listen?” ~Ann Ashford
Sometimes babies just need to cry. So we let them cry. We pick them up and kiss, hug and kiss them again. Whisper sweet words of affirmation and look into their eyes to reassure them that they are seen, heard and loved. Babies are not just anybody to be tolerated. They are little people in constant need of an adult primary caregiver.
I was a crib baby. It was a thing in the 50s not to spoil a child you don’t cuddle the baby. For me to understand myself I had to know how I grew up. How my attitude of self-rejection was developed starting from the womb to the crib
and the rest of my growing years.
Last night I had a long visit with someone very dear to me. We talked about mental health and how do we take the negative stigma on the term, mental health or behavioral health. It is my forte and I enjoyed his company. The question was – How do we change the public’s outlook on the term itself. But that’s another subject for another day. It was quite late when I finally went to bed…and I had a dream. In the dream. I was so busy cleaning and doing other things. I keep passing a little child holding a tiny baby wrapped in a white blanket. When I finished with whatever task i had to do I went to the child and the baby. I took the baby in my arms and she smiled. I began talking with her. The baby smiled at me. I smiled and said. “I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you.” The baby’s smile told me that we knew each other. I woke up.
Dreams bring messages to us: I have been neglecting my heart – my inner child. My inner child love when I read to her and sing with Vestal Goodman.
It’s been a long journey to grow and mature as a woman. I learned to love myself not because I’m worth it but because God chose to create me in his image.