Come OUT and PLAY

Happy February! My gosh! It feels good to be back! The last time I posted in my blog was late January. However, my therapy website officially closed down on 01/28/25. It felt like it came out of nowhere and I actually posted my last blog a few days before that date but because it shut down, I was  not able to send out my last blog. Luckily, that blog is finally out on my new website! 

What a month February has been for me! I saw my last therapy clients on 1/29 and noticed that a day before, my throat started feeling funny and it would hurt every time I spoke; of course, knowing my luck, it got worse and then for the next week, I could barely speak. My throat was so sore, which caused me to cough, and then my head would hurt. Needless to say, I had upper respiratory stuff that kicked my butt for two weeks. 

My mistake was thinking that I was well enough to go back to work. For those who are not aware, I am a weekly contributor for a mental health wellness app called Cadre. I go LIVE twice a week to discuss mental health well-being in the workplace called Your Own Pathway in the Workplace (Mondays) and on Wednesdays, I discuss Your Own Pathway, where of course, very much like this blog, I discuss  how to forge your own path and OWN IT. 

Well, on this particular Monday, I thought I was doing well enough and was confident that I could go LIVE for at least 10 minutes without coughing my head off…well I was dead wrong; around the 7 minute mark, I noticed a tickle in my throat. I had a cup of water with lemon nearby and thought that I was safe. Oh girl! Was I WRONG! I started having a coughing attack LIVE on Cadre. I was mortified. I had to end my LIVE early but the people who were watching me HEARD IT ALL. 

What did I learn from this experience? I learned that I needed to take things SLOW, don’t FORCE, and that it’s okay to REST! Unfortunately, I learned the hard and embarrassing way but I needed to learn. Sometimes, we have to learn the hard way and girl, DID I! 

During my time of convalescence, I had to ask myself. Are you showing up as the  best version of yourself when you work? This included my LIVES, filming my Podcast, and Youtube episodes. I also had to question if I was being fair to my viewers and guests when I wasn’t feeling my best. I was always the type of person who pushed through by telling myself that I CAN DO IT! 

But this month, I realized and accepted that I didn’t have to be that way anymore. That I didn’t have to push, force, and do anything that I didn’t feel aligned to do for that day, week, or…..EVER. 

During my rest, my favorite thing to do was sit on my “journaling couch.” This couch used to be my therapy couch for my clients when I had my office. As I sat on my journaling couch, with a cup of hot water, with lemon, and tea, I would just sit and write endlessly about ideas for my weekly blogs, catchy titles for my Youtube Episodes, and other creative ideas that I had. 

I allowed myself to scribble, cross out things, underline meaningful words, and permitted my imagination to just be free! Honestly, I felt like a child again. I didn’t pressure myself to come up with things, I didn’t tell myself, “that’s not going to work,” and best of all, I had fun! 

This got me thinking, my gosh! When was the last time I allowed myself to be free, create with joy, without thinking of the analytics of how many people visited my website or how many new subscribers I got on Youtube. When was the last time I created without thinking that I needed to hook my audiences with a catchy title and I came to the realization that it’s always about business. 

Now, I understand. I run a business so I have to think about business. But I can also create with joy, without pressure, do things with love, appreciation, and especially, be authentic. That’s why I LOVE writing this blog. I love that I get to be me and that I appreciate my readers who reach out to me to tell me that a certain blog resonated with them. I write out of love and authenticity with this blog. 

In this blog, I have shared aspects of my life with all of you and why I am so passionate and why I was empowered to write this blog. As a daughter who grew up with immigrant Hmong parents, I had to grow up fast; especially as a daughter. At the age of 10, during the summers, to make money for school supplies, my siblings and I (who were not old enough to go work at a fast food restaurant), would go and pick strawberries in the early summer mornings. Not gonna lie, it was hard, hot, and fun. We also got to play and bond with our cousins who also went to do this work with us. 

Thinking about this made me realize that I have been working since I was 10 years old; so technically, I’ve been working for over 30 years! I mean I should be able to retire right? This probably explains why I needed to rest most of February.  I told someone during my first few days of rest (I actually was resting from respiratory infection) that I felt as though I was in my retirement stage of life. Where I got up each day, had a slow morning, drank my hot liquids, wrote in my journal, and allowed myself to just flow with the day. 

And you know what? It felt AMA-ZING. I got to rest, write, be creative, and just BE. In a way, I felt like a child and a retiree at the same time but I really felt like a child. I felt like a child because I had rest and clarity. I allowed myself to have and feel joy, compassion, and to DREAM. Remember all the dreams that you had as a child? Remember how we were all told that we can be whatever we want if we put our minds to it? Remember the magic, wanderlust, and the belief we had in ourselves? 

Many of us lost that magic, belief, and creativity as we grew older, as we had additional responsibilities, obligations, and responsibilities. Many are surviving on autopilot,  just trying to make it day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year. Before we know it, ten years have gone by. As we all know, time waits for NO ONE. 

As this month comes to an end, here some things that I noticed about myself as I allowed my inner child to come out and play: 

Increased Playfulness & Joy:  I am going to be honest here; I have never felt this much at  peace, balanced, and centered in my life as I do now.  Because I am getting rest and feel balanced, my inner child is allowing me to make room for fun and spontaneity. This has reduced my stress considerably. I feel lighter and I am much more open to enjoying the present moment. I no longer wish my life away and take joy in all things in my life. 

Boosted Creativity & Imagination: Children live in a world of imagination and creativity. When I sat on my journaling couch, listening to music, my thoughts, ideas, and creativity were bouncing off the wall. I had two notebooks; one to write down all my ideas and the other to write my thoughts, feelings, and emotions, which then created my ideas. I didn’t limit my thinking to “what was realistic.” Instead, my thinking was “you can create this; create your reality.”  Permit and believe that you can create anything. Remember, children believe in their reality. When you believe, anything can happen! 

Reclaiming Your Freedom & Self-Worth: Question: When was the last time you felt you were worthy? Felt free to just be YOU without having to make yourself small and fit into other people’s narratives? Before this month, I had other creative ideas that I wanted to bring forth on my Youtube Channel but was hesitant because I didn’t want to “trigger or offend” potential viewers. This month, I said, “IDGAF!” and started my new series about Mental Wellbeing and Leadership in the Workplace. This reminded me that when a child wants to play and use their creativity and imagination, just do it! They don’t wait around. Playing and expressing your inner child also reminds you that it's okay to be imperfect and carefree. You get to embrace your worth, without judgment or have expectations. It's reclaiming your right to just BE! 

Greater Authenticity & Self-Acceptance: Before society’s rules, expectations, and other people’s judgements, as children, we were all encouraged to be ourselves, learn, and making mistakes was part of the growth process. Self-acceptance, love, and authenticity were ours to have.  Allowing it to reemerge will help us regain our authenticity and the self-acceptance that we have buried in order to meet everyone else's expectation of us. 

 Reduced Anxiety & Stress: I stated earlier above about how I am the most balanced, centered, and at peace that I have been in a long time; actually ever. As I rested, allowed myself to be, not forced, and as a result, my inner child could no longer be suppressed. It was going to come out no matter what!  When you suppress your inner child, the chances of your anxiety, stress, and other negative emotions will be heightened. By embracing your inner child, this will  allow you to release emotional tension and approach life with more ease and joy. 

Emotional Healing & Self-Compassion: I realized that since I have been working since I was 10 years old, I never really had an opportunity to be a child. Being a daughter in an immigrant family and growing up with limited resources, often meant being parentified, in which I had to take on adult responsibilities.  Maybe that’s why I never felt the need to have my own children because now, as an adult, I am finally living a carefree life. Your inner child carries unresolved wounds from childhood—pain, fear, or unmet needs. By acknowledging and nurturing this part of yourself, you offer compassion and love to those wounds that will finally lead to deep emotional healing, and finally getting to do, be the things, and dream of the life that you envisioned as a child. 

Ladies, when you allow your inner child to come out and play, it can create a holistic impact on your life. Most of us have been taught to just focus on our physical health while putting our mental and spiritual health on the back burner. You’ll be amazed at what happens to you when you start setting intentions to include your mental and spiritual health. It will cause a ripple effect as you will eventually handle stress better, protect yourself from ill intended people/situations, and learn that keeping your peace is a priority.

I know that some people may read this blog  and think “Poiab is so full of fluff! All this woo-woo shit! How does allowing my inner child to come out feed my children and pay my bills?!” I’m not going to say that it will but I will say that it’s all about how YOU SHOW UP. If you choose to be bitter, resentful, unforgiving, and allow negativity to control you, guess what? That is exactly what YOU WILL GET. 

But if you choose to be positive, show gratitude and appreciation, that's what YOU WILL RECEIVE. As I’ve said this multiple times in this blog, forging your own path is all about what is in YOUR control and what is NOT. How you choose to show up for yourself and to the world around you, is all within your control. By allowing yourself to be free, have your inner child come out to play, create, and use your imagination, you’ll be surprised at what you can find within you that you buried long ago. 

Darlings, to OWN your Path, it can take lots of playdates, creating messes, needing naps, and having the occasional tantrum (and drink of choice). REMEMBER, GIVE YOURSELF  LOTS OF TIME, LOVE, COMPASSION, AND PERMISSION TO HAVE THAT LITTLE YOU COME OUT AND PLAY! SO PLAY YOUR HEART AND SOUL OUT LOVE! 💖