healing my inner child

 hello angels! recently i've been engaging in so many things i enjoyed while i was growing up. i feel like as we grow into adulthood, especially as women, we are shunned out of our childhood interests and forced to grow up. even as a teenager, i felt ashamed to enjoy the same things as i did when i was younger. i feel like a lot of the mainstream culture shoves young women out of tween/teenhood and straight into adulthood. being late gen z, i feel like i was one of the last tweens. i shopped at justice, listened to one direction, loved disney movies, played with dolls, and my only semblance of makeup was experimenting in the bathroom with drugstore makeup before a shower. but being in middle school, post-covid (2022 and after.) the environment was suddenly harsh, and being a tween was no more. the friends i picked and the idea of culture from then to now, made me ashamed of who i was. because i was told i could not like those things anymore. it was time for me to grow up.

as a now eighteen-year-old girl, free from the chains of high school and so-called social "norms", i can be unapologetically myself. i recently started collecting ever after high dolls again, and it's made me so happy. i've mainly been a monster high collector for most of my life since they're so much easier to get. between the creeproduction and skullector releases, i get a few new ones every year. monster high and ever after high were such keystones in my childhood, especially ever after high. i've bought 3 of the dolls recently, two of which i had when i was younger. first chapter raven queen and dexter charming, and thronecoming apple white.

my collection!

i also picked up one of the ever after high books recently. you have probably seen it on my goodreads if you have scrolled down far enough on my page. i ended up reading the third book in middle school, but none of the others. I've honestly really enjoyed it so far, and it's felt more like a YA/tween book than a chapter book for kids. not to mention the design of the books are so gorgeous! i really recommend them if you enjoyed ever after high. they're so fun and lighthearted. 

to conclude, it's okay to have the same interests as you did when you were younger. and it's okay to be a tween without engaging in adult interests. you only get to be that age once, please don't rush into adulthood. you will deeply regret it. live your life thinking of your inner child and what she would want. since doing this, i've ultimately become a better person and more of myself. it doesn't matter if someone berates you for your interests if you are being yourself. i let other people dictate my interests for so many years, and it puts your mind in a prison of sorts. i let other people suck my whimsy away, but i'm slowly getting it back. enjoy your childhood interests unashamedly. it's made me so much happier, and it will likely make you happier too. 

be yourself, be unique, be a monster.

xoxo, molly