Childhood Memories - Join me on an Adventure
9 July, 2008 - Motivation - 5 Comments
Photo by CARF
Childhood is such a special time. Without a care in the world we build, imagine, create, play, laugh, smile and cry. We break rules, make rules and ask what are rules. We give, take, share. All’s fair. We try, fall, and try again. As children, we have fun because having fun is what it means to be alive. Having fun isn’t a set activity at a set time. Having fun is just what we do.
“Would you like to come out and play?” is asked in place of “Would you like to come out to our next meeting?”
“Would you like a sweety?” or “Would you like some candy?” is asked in place of “Would you like a Paracetamol?”
“Did you see the big fire engine?” is asked in place of “Did you see how bad the traffic was this morning?”
As children, we don’t know the meaning of boredom, crime, war, racism, divide, or hatred. As children, we laugh at the magic trick we’ve seen 20 times in the past five minutes. We laugh at the funny noise our toy makes. Even if we first heard that funny noise six months ago. We’re free and immune. We’re just happy to be experiencing life.
Shouldn’t that be the same when we’re all grown up?
Today, in this month of July, officially crowned in the UK as Childhood Memories Month, I want you to join me on a journey adventure.
I want you to share with the world your favourite childhood memory.
We all have childhood memories. It struck me as I did my research for this post that many of us like to remember the bad things about our childhood. Abuse. Neglect. Pain. Bullies. The proportion of bad memories versus good memories that I found was approximately 9 to 1. So there is just one rule for this exercise:
Share your favourite, positive childhood memory.
Put yourself back in the shoes of that young you. Breathe it. Smell it. Feel it. See it. Live it. Feel the sand between your toes. Take in the smell of the tent from your camping trip. Feel the snow as you roll around outdoors.
Go back to your childhood and share your favourite memory with us, either in the comments or as your own blog post. If you write a blog post, feel free to link back to it by posting the link in the comments of this post.
Jamie’s Favourite Childhood Memory
To inspire you and to get the adventure underway, I’m going to share my favourite memory.
Each summer we would go camping close to Oxford, South England. We would take our large trailer tent. We still have the trailer tent to this day. Once erected, it has two double beds, two single beds, a full cooking stove, windows, curtains and cupboards. It’s the ultimate luxury in tents.
The campsite, Cassington Mill, was lovely. Right next to the river and quiet country lanes with a paved circular road with speed humps built around the site. I remember riding my bike as fast as I could around the road, through the campsite, jumping over the humps. I fell off once and ended up having my arm in a sling.
My brother, two years my senior, and I would always make new friends. I remember some German travellers. My first experience of talking to somebody whose first language wasn’t English.
One summer, my brother and I were under the old railway bridge that was on the site. It crossed over the slow river and was the perfect place for the kids to play. We were all swinging from the cross beams on the bridge when my brother lost his grip. He fell… straight in to the largest bed of stinging nettles I had ever seen. He was wearing shorts. We ran back to the tent with 10 kids in tow. Magic sting cream applied to his entire body, he spent much of the next week sat at the side watching us all play football.
I also remember the play area. It had a swing that was attached to the underside of a fake, plastic tree branch. The fake tree was hollow and you could sit inside. I remember getting my first kiss inside that tree from a girl I met on the site.
One summer I took my small two man tent with us. I slept in that tent, just in front of the trailer tent. I remember my Dad getting very drunk with the guy in the tent next door. He was fine until he stood up to go to the bathroom before going to bed. As he walked to the bathroom, I remember laughing so hard when he walked in to large fire hose point in the middle of the campsite. When he came back, he forgot my tent was in front of the trailer tent. Before he (and I) knew it, he had tripped over my tent, fallen on top of it, and crushed it and me inside.
I have so many good memories of my time camping in Oxford. Unfortunately, the campsite (as beautiful as it was) has closed. It’s a real shame, but I’m sure I’ll find many good memories elsewhere.
What is your favourite childhood memory? For once, see the fire truck, not the rush hour traffic. See the play time, not the meeting time. Embark on an adventure. I dare you!
Further Reading
12 Ways to Use Childhood Wisdom to Start Living Your Life - From Liz Strauss
Others You May Enjoy
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed!
Del.icio.us - Technorati - Digg This! - StumbleUpon
Posted on 9 July, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under Motivation |
5 Comments»
Popular Posts
Top Commentators
- Nick (7)
- Mitchell Allen (4)
- Jeremy Day (4)
- Cath Lawson (3)
- Paul Hirsch (3)
Jamie kayaking the River Rothay in January 08
Latest Musings
- 5 Ways to Maintain Your Business Passion
- Charging Per Hour Is Stupid!
- 5 Ways to Lose Passion for Your Business
- New About Page - Including Video
- A Customer is for Life: Not Just for Christmas
Categories
- Blogging (50)
- Ebook (1)
- Events (4)
- General Business (44)
- Guest Posts (1)
- Interviews (14)
- Misc (31)
- Motivation (28)
- Motivational Media (5)
- Polls (3)
- Quick Questions (3)
- Quick Tips (2)
- RSS Only (4)
- Social Media (4)
- Video Blogs (3)
- Web Design (6)
- Your Feedback (11)
Twitter... Follow Me
- Wow! Talk about fast turn-around! Just heard from the agency. The guys want me back for a 2nd interview/hands on task :-) 16 hrs ago
- @dannymcc Cheeky bugger! lol in reply to dannymcc 18 hrs ago
- Interview over. Went well. Lasted an hour. Hope I didn't come across as having a huge ego 19 hrs ago
- More updates...
Hey Jamie,
What a great idea and what a great post! I had plenty of wonderful memories just reading along with what you wrote.
Remembering what makes us wonder keeps us thinking and alive!
Thank for the love at the end.
Liz Strauss’s last blog post..The Beam Global Cultural Switch Interviews: Meet Rory Finlay
Hey Liz,
Thanks for the kind words.
No problem regarding the link love. I enjoyed reading it when I read it earlier this year.
Oh, to be young again, Jamie!
Childhood memories can be a mix of the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, but they help colour our world today regardless.
It’s great to hear of your vivid memories of the campsite. I’ve only ever been camping once and the midgies (gnat-like pests) in Scotland are a plague for the camper here ;-(
My favourite childhood memory is of the time I spent in the playground of the local park. There, I had many hours of amusement going round on the roundabouts and going backwards and forwards on the swings- those were the days, eh?
I also experienced one of my less-pleasant childhood memories there too. After a particularly enthusiastic session of chocolate Easter egg munching, I foolishly decided it would be great fun to whizz on the roundabout followed immediately by a climb to the top of the slide.
Needless to say, the combination resulted in a visit to Casualty and a split head!
The joys of childhood
Hey Scott,
Thanks for the wonderful comment.
You don’t have to tell me about the midgies in Scotland. I once remember (another childhood memory here) driving from Yorkshire up to Wick, at the very north of Scotland. We stopped off at a bed and breakfast on the way and just across the road were some waterfalls. It was light when we went to look at the ‘falls, but then dusk fell and before we knew it we were being attacked by millions of the little bliters! I’m used to them, but I’d never been attacked by so many.
That was a wonderful memory you shared. It reminds me of the time my brother fell off the round-about and split open his head. I laughed.
Thanks for the excellent comment. I can’t wait to read more comments from you in the future.
I have precious memories of the poplar tree that grew in our yard. I would climb the tree and sit for hours on a branch, shaded in my leafy hideaway, looking at the blue sky and imagining the warriors (as if we are going to have a battle) in the distant mountains. I spent my early childhood in Chandigarh (North India). My tree gave me a bird’s eye view of the amazing hills of Shimla and I was sure the warriors were still hiding there. I visit Chandigarh/Shimla almost twice a year just to keep going back in time.