This is a letter to you, my inner child.

You came into this world full of beauty and wonder. You were curious about the creatures of the living world, and you allowed yourself to feel every emotion. You were open, free, and unguarded in who you were. The possibility of magic surrounded you. The nature you were part of felt like home. You knew that creativity was a vital force to be cherished, and your imagination knew no limits.

And then the reality of growing up in America left its imprint on you.
I know you wanted the adults around you to hold these parts of you as sacred, and that they didn’t always do that. I know it didn’t feel safe with other boys and men who compared you to girls and women in a negative light. I know you felt shame for your emotional sensitivity. So you created a shell—an armor—to protect yourself. It kept the judgments out, but it also kept pieces of your true self in. It was a sacrifice you felt you had to make to protect the heart of who you were. You didn’t want to feel the loneliness or alienation, but you didn’t have many options that felt safe.

Thank you for the choices you made to keep us safe. You did the best you could in a culture that does not value wholeness.

Now I am an adult man, and I know more about this place than you did then. There are still times I hide away, but I see now that it isn’t keeping me safe anymore. I know that human connection is not optional—it's a true need. I know that without openness and vulnerability, the most beautiful parts of me will never become gifts to the rest of the world. And I know that by restricting my authentic self, I perpetuate the story that men must subdue their inner worlds in order to dominate the outer one.

America tried to teach you that some people are better than others, and that humans hold supremacy over nature. But you, my child—you knew this was a wrong story. A story that leads only to separation: separation from self, from each other, and from the living world. I feel grief for that loss of connection.

It is time to unlearn these ideas of brokenness. I want to reclaim the beauty and magic you came into the world with. It is time to break the survival patterns you learned, and to move toward healing.

The invitation now is to create something beautiful from the broken pieces.