Dear Love: A Letter to the Longing for Belonging

Date: Saturday, 15 February 2025

Time: 11am-1pm

Platform: Zoom

Imagine your childhood as a precious photo album. It's more than just pictures; it's a living record of your inner child. Each photo captures a moment, a feeling, a piece of who you were and still are. Some photos are bright – a birthday party, a school play, a loving hug – representing positive experiences that nurtured feelings of safety, love, and belonging. Others are faded or torn – a moment of fear, a harsh word, the sadness of feeling unseen. Some are blurry, like lingering feelings from confusing or painful events. These represent experiences that may have hurt your inner child, leaving behind feelings of insecurity, loneliness, or shame. These "unclear images" can be especially impactful, representing times when your young mind struggled to make sense of things.

Your inner child isn't a separate person; it's the emotional heart of your younger self, the part of you that experienced the world with unfiltered senses. It's the source of your playful spirit, curiosity, and deep need for connection. It's the part that still yearns to be seen, heard, and loved unconditionally.

Flip through your imaginary album. Perhaps you see yourself building a Lego house, playing cricket, or lost in a world of colors. Or maybe you're curled up with a pet, feeling safe and comforted. Those moments of pure experience, those feelings of joy, wonder, and connection – those are glimpses of your inner child.

Some photos might be stuck, difficult to turn. These represent experiences you've tried to forget, emotions you've pushed down. They might be uncomfortable, but they're part of your story. As you grow, you might try to close the album, but those photos, memories, and feelings are always there, influencing your present life, affecting your self-worth, confidence, career, health, relationships, and how you navigate the world.

Inner Child work helps people gently open their photo albums.This isn't about blame or judgment, but about offering compassion to your younger self. It's about creating a safe space to reconnect with your inner child, acknowledge hurts, celebrate joys, and integrate all the pieces of your story into a more complete understanding of yourself. Embracing your inner child means offering yourself the love and acceptance you may have always needed, creating a more whole and fulfilling present.

Writing is a powerful tool for this healing. Translating memories and emotions into words gives your inner child a voice, allowing expression of needs, fears, and longings. This externalization brings clarity, connecting past to present.Through writing, you give your inner child the power to heal, and in doing so, reclaim your own.

Neuroscience supports this. Putting feelings into words engages the prefrontal cortex, allowing for more objective emotional observation. Writing strengthens neural connections between emotional and language centers, facilitating processing and regulation. The act of writing is calming, reducing stress and promoting well-being. It's a tangible way to build emotional resilience. Each word is a step toward wholeness, integrating past experiences for a more empowered present.

"Dear Love: A Letter to the Longing for Belonging" is a transformative writing workshop designed to help you connect with your inner child. Through reflective letter-writing, you’ll explore your deepest desires for love, discovering what love looks like and means to you, as well as how it appeared in your family and childhood. This workshop offers a gentle, healing space to embrace vulnerability, reconnect with your inner child’s needs, and uncover how the definition or feeling of love has evolved over time. Whether you’re seeking closure, clarity, or a deeper understanding of yourself, this journey into the heart of love will empower you to write from a place of growth, healing, and hope. In writing your inner child's truth, you discover your own.