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Flip the Script: Ages Birth to Nineteen
Day Fifty-eight
Ages Birth to Nineteen
“In our lives, there are moments of great beauty that are so fragile, so transitory that to experience them is pure joy. To share them is to know the essence of living.” ~Gwen James, Reconnecting
Every post this week has a wide range of ages. I’m going to approach this Flip the Script conversation by highlighting a basic idea and sharing some stories. Allow the musings to open you to your own memories at each age or memories from observing others.
Ages Birth to Seven:
In the beginning, your soul arrived in a fresh, new body and during the first seven years you were a sponge, soaking up everything you experienced in your environment, including language and mannerisms and habits. You learned to maneuver your physical body, learned a language and practiced independence.
Beliefs were formed as you were influenced by the adults, children, elements of nature, and animals around you. This formed a foundation of how you learned to navigate and experience life.
Early moments with each of my three grandchildren informed me of their personalities. At age ten, Lucille is serious, imaginative and thoughtful. At 20 months, Cooper absorbs information and then jumps into action which earned the title, “Busy man,” at the day care center. At three months, Seamus is wonder boy. He looks at everything with wide, open eyes like everything is new and surprising — which of course, it is! What they each do with their personalities are molded from the world around them and the mystery of who they becoming is unfolding.
Ages 8–13: Puberty. Your body began to change during this window of time, and you developed a new relationship with your body. It probably felt strange and foreign. This experience set you up with self-esteem, an ability to access your intuitive body wisdom, and the beginning of tuning into your desire. You were impacted by relationships with your peers, media, advertising and television, with messages from your families and friends about what was expected and accepted.
When I began to menstruate, at age ten, my mother slid a kit under the bathroom door. This came from a sanitary pad company with diagrams and instructions. It…
