The Inner Child Experiment: Part I

Winters in Seattle can feel long and gray. During the winter of 2025, I decided to try something simple to bring a little more energy and play into my days.

I met up for coffee with a friend who was telling me about his love for pickleball. He mentioned how it brings out the inner child in people.

That sparked an idea. What if we tried something like that for a month?

Here’s the text I sent him:

“Each day we do one thing that fits into our normal routine, but approach it the way we would have as a child. It could be something simple. Eating a meal with your hands. Hopscotching to your car. We take turns texting each other a daily ‘experiment.’ What do you think?”

He was in.

I wanted to explore what changes occur when we bring a little more play into ordinary moments?

Here are the first seven experiments we tried:

• Five twirls in place, with a smile and hands up, in public, with at least one person around. No explaining.

• Eat one meal using only your hands. (I went with oatmeal.)

• Skip your way to your car.

• Draw a stick-figure picture of your family. Spend five minutes. Bonus if it goes on the fridge.

• Chew bubble gum and blow bubbles.

• Smell flowers and really look at them. No stories, just observation.

• Howl at the moon. Or the sky if it’s cloudy.

If you try something like this, I’d be curious what you notice.

What changes?

What feels different?