(Ignore the prompt, I wanted to write a personal “I believe” essay. This was my script for a speech contest I was in. I don’t normally do this type of writing so I hope you enjoy it and I’m open to feedback!)

“One day you will be old enough to read fairy tales again.”

-C.S. Lewis

I believe in enjoying life like a child. Every year, for as long as I can remember, my family would go on a summer vacation to Lake Michigan. We would rent a cabin by the beach and everyone would be there. My cousins, my aunts and uncles, my nana and papa, everybody. It’s only ever been one week every year, but every time we go, I feel safe. I feel happy. I feel like I can be myself. I think the reason I feel this way revolves around the people. I love my family so much and when we're all together on the beach we’re able to have fun again.

As a kid, every day used to be a new adventure. I was like a bird flying high above the world not bothering to look down. Just ready for whatever I could find up ahead. Now that I’m older my wings have been clipped and what I used to not know about is my whole reality. With social media becoming so popular around that time, the horrors of the world have become more real than ever before. It was as if my eyes had opened for the first time in my life, and I dreaded what I saw. So now I depend on the little things, like my summer vacation, as a way to go back to that childhood innocence. As a way for me to feel young and free like I once felt all the time.

More recently, I realized that living life to the fullest is your choice. My papa passed away about two years ago, so our vacations now alway feel different. He was in his early 80s, but all throughout my childhood, he was young at heart. We would play the best games together, plunging ourselves into a world of imagination and wonder. Our story would flow in rivers of our creativity and nothing bad could happen because we were in complete control. I used to have control of my life and feelings of security. My parents were perfect and they knew everything and together we had held the ropes of reality. Once I started middle school, it felt like my whole life had flipped over and when I turned to my parents for help, they turned out to be as miserable and hopeless as I was. Then, I lost my ability to have fun and imagine. I lost my ability to have adventures. I became so worried about responsibility and what people think of me that I couldn’t just let myself be. But one thing I never forgot was what my papa had taught me. His ability to live life to the fullest even in his old age taught me that age doesn’t define your ability to have fun or to be “childish”.

My favorite quote is, “One day you will be old enough to read fairy tales again.”-C.S. Lewis. It always reminded me of my papa. It made me realize how everyone gets thrown into the world, and it’s scary. Sooner or later you forget what it feels like to be a child. To feel carefree. Feelings of adventure get replaced by depression and anxiety. Your favorite thing to do used to be exploring life but now it is escaping reality.

My only hope is that one day you will realize that living your life happily is your choice. One day you will begin to see the good in things and it will become easier and easier. One day you will remember what it's like to notice those small details in life and enjoy them. And one day you will be old enough to read fairytales again. You will be able to enjoy living life. Not because you protected and preserved your inner child, but because you simply chose to let them out.