Last week, I was at my childhoods house in my hometown when suddenly, a wave of nostalgia hit me. Naturally, I went up to the attic to look through my old stuff, read through diaries, reminisced about times and memories I had long forgotten if I hadn´t immortalized them on paper. I tried on clothes I wore in my teenage years, looked through the camera roll and notes app on my old phones and found the bed sheets I had when I was a kid. They are pink and have hearts on them, and the material is super soft and cozy, so I decided I´ll take them with me to Berlin.

Last night, I put those bed sheets on my bed again, and when I cuddled up in bed with my childhood teddy bear in my arms, I felt so safe and protected and peaceful, I can´t even describe it.

I try and do a lot of things that could connect me back to my inner child, that could bring back that sweet, innocent and always curious child. Because she is still in me, I carry her with me wherever I go. And I genuinely believe that connecting with my inner child and remembering my roots, that´s when I feel the most joyful.

When I pick up hobbies I enjoyed as a kid, now as an adult, that´s when I get lost in doing things while time passes so quickly.

I believe the key to happiness lies in connecting back to our inner child.

For so long, I tried to be an adult. I mean, I am an adult. But adult life doesn´t fit me. I tried adult hobbies such as Pilates and pottery and going for runs. To be honest, they don´t fulfill me at all.

But when I read, when I make little photo books or magazines (I´ve heard making zines is back in style right now – when I was a kid I loved crafting little “newspapers” for my parents to read), when I´m out in nature, when I swim in lakes or the ocean, when I see horses, those are the moments that make hours pass by like minutes lost in my own little universe.

Mostly, when I´m not distracted by the internet or a phone. 🌟 🎉 The last letter for the giveaway: N✨

Sometimes, I also like to connect with my inner teenager. By reading teen magazines in my room while listening to Avril Lavigne. By rewatching Gossip Girl for the thousandth time. By looking at photos from the 2015 Tumblr era or watching oversaturated YouTube videos by my favorite American YouTubers during said era. By painting my nails in various colors and by wearing my colorful converse. And in a way, by blogging, because in my early teens, I wanted to be a blogger, just like all those beauty and lifestyle bloggers who were big in 2014.

There´s a book I read when I was in India, the book of children by Osho. Yes, I know, supporting or not supporting Osho is a whole different topic, but I read the book years ago and just today remembered I still had it in my bookshelf.

I want to create a safe space for my inner child to live in.

Sometimes I´m doing well with that, sometimes I´m not. When I´m mad at myself, I try to look at photos of me when I was a kid and remember that she is always with me. When I´m sad, I try to imagine hugging my inner child, making her feel safe and comforted. I think about what I would´ve needed as a kid to feel better. Hot chocolate? Cuddling with my stuffed animals? Some soup? It´s a way of taking care of myself in times when I´m not getting along well with myself.

I also recently started talking to my inner child. Talk to little Anna (which is my real name, if some of you wondered), treat her with love and softness. In the beginning, I felt stupid doing this, but over time, it evolved into a natural habit that improved my self love and my life in general.

I felt like sharing this, because when I was laying in bed last night, cuddled up in my childhood bed sheets, I felt so at peace with myself, with all the versions of myself that ever existed. There were versions of myself that I´m having a hard time with treating them with love and care, but last night, I felt like they were all with me, and I felt alright being who I am, and everybody who I ever was.

I put my childhoods bed sheets on my bed again

why do I bring my phone everywhere I go?