Years ago, I was introduced to the book “Mirror” at the Tüyap Book Fair. When the attendant at the stand handed me the book, it generously offered itself to me as soon as I opened the pages. The images in the book suddenly became a mirror of my own inner world. At that moment, I felt something familiar calling me.
“Mirror” is a silent book. But it is such a silence, like the words in the song, “while I keep quiet while shouting…” It screams with its silence, and the more silent it is, the deeper it penetrates. Because it has a big problem it wants to tell: the child within us.
There is a child inside all of us, perhaps without even being aware of it. In one sense, he is wounded, resentful, sad, and in another sense, he is joyful, curious, imaginative, and creative. He is ready to explore life and share his excitement and curiosity with us again. But sometimes, he may have become silent because he has been forgotten or ignored. That child is actually waiting for us to turn to him and say, “Hello, I see you.”
This encounter is surprising for both of us. “I was here, why didn’t you see me?” he asks. We say in amazement, “How could I have hidden something like that inside me?” The child within us is the key not only to the past but also to the future. The closer we can get to it, the more original and creative we can be. As Carl Jung said, “Maturity means learning to play again.” There is a deep truth hidden in this quote from Jung: When we reconnect with our inner child, we can play the game of life again and look at life with brand new eyes.
Meeting our inner child can be scary at first. Because his enthusiasm, curiosity and limitless imagination both excite us and push our limits. But once we realize it, we take steps to reestablish that bond. We approach with slow steps and start playing games with him. As we play, we start to see the humor and simple yet magical aspects of life. That childlike laughter is reflected not only on our faces but also in our entire lives.
However, this journey does not proceed in a straight line. In the following pages of the book, we see the mirror break. We may have a falling out with our inner child; we may disappoint him, we may hurt him again. But this is not the end of the journey. Life is an adventure in which we travel the same paths but each time we progress a little more as “us”. The mirror may break, but we never abandon our inner child. We touch it again, we dare to connect again and again.
At such moments, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's words from The Little Prince come to mind: "Grown-ups can't understand everything, and children always have to explain things to them." This quote reminds us of how patient and persistent our inner child is. Because that child never lets us go. The more we feed him, the more he feeds us.
The child within us is the source of our creativity. When we connect with it, we begin to feel the magic, color and excitement of life. Because children do not imitate; they are always original. And discovering the child within us guides us to be a more courageous and original being in life. Most importantly, it guides us to live “ourselves”.
That’s why we should never stop looking at ourselves in the mirror, saying “hello” to our inner child, and dancing with it. Perhaps the secret of life lies right here, in the courage to rediscover our inner child.
Movies you can watch with this topic:
*The Little Prince (2015)
*Christopher Robin (2018)
*The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and thw Horse 2022
*Inside Out 2015
*Hook 1991
Comments