Reconnecting with simple childhood pleasures 💖

I waited all day for this moment, and my cabin mates couldn’t walk any slower. Busy gossiping about tween love, I tried to corral them by adding two extra steps to my gait. It didn’t work.

It was 105 degrees that West Virginia day, and I was impervious to the sweat soaking through my Limited Too tank top. I had enough. I left them behind and bolted up “heart attack hill” with instinctual preteen cardio.

There were only 3 people in front of the 12-foot tall log hut, guaranteeing me a prized bag of Bugles. I gave the girl in french braids my name and cabin number, and walked away with my braces poking through a giant grin.

I plopped next to a lady bug in a bed of clover and ripped open the bag, two or three pieces falling to the grass. My cabin mates a forgotten memory, I munched on my treat with the glee only a 10-year-old can find in a summer snack.

My thrill for 3pm Bugles repeated every day that summer camp. I savored every piece, putting the open ends on my fingers as I made my way through the bag.

Once I got to my 20s, a bag of chips stopped being a source of joy.

Bites weren’t time to be present; they were a crutch for heartbreak, a relief for stress, and a guilt trip during diets.

I stopped noticing how I felt when I was eating something special, because every bite had an implication.

450 calories.
$5 stretched further before payday.
”Junk food.”

As adults, we struggle to be present for small moments, because as we grow, so do our expectations.

We lose the no-strings-attached joys we had as kids for, honestly, no good reason.

The world didn’t actually change, we did.

We swapped simple pleasures for complex stresses.
We exchanged joy for worry.
We devalued our loves for what other people think.

But this is all a choice

As kids, it was easy to be ourselves in our unique and wonderful way. Because we didn’t know any better!

We never questioned what was and experienced every moment as an opportunity for imagination and play.

When we conjure our childhood spirit as adults, suddenly everything becomes OK.

Living in the world becomes play, and there’s something special to be found in every corner.

The world is wide, surprising, and untainted, you just have to reconnect with when you saw it that way.

When I designed this bracelet, it was to act as a reminder to sip that Cherry Sprite like you're 10-years-old. When you knew the world was wide, surprising, and untainted. You believed you could do anything, and you were here for the moment.

Remember the simple provides so much satisfaction, we just have to recognize it's worth seizing.

xx,
Slater