Can you and I discover the magic of childhood again this weekend?

Oaknoll: My childhood wonderland

To my young eyes and heart, my childhood home was a magical wonderland: Eleven acres of knee-high pasture grasses, a wandering creek, and majestic oak trees that seemed to reach the clouds. I did not often wander from the fenced perimeter, but it did not feel like a boundary to me as much as a gift to explore. My grandparents appropriately named this childhood haven Oaknoll, "the oak on a small hill."

When I was a little girl, my world was small...but it felt expansive and free. My siblings and I would play tag, kickball, and make-believe for hours on end. I didn't need an Instagram-worthy photo to curate the moment; my living and breathing it was enough. As I have gotten older, my world has grown more expansive but has felt progressively less free. There are bills to pay, errands to run, friends and family across the country to keep up with, and an anxiety-inducing future to consider. 

What if we learned to return to the magic of childhood every once in a while, though? 

What if we could set aside the trappings of adulthood for a weekend and explore our expansive world like that little girl inside? 

What if I set aside my phone and really lived, even if just for a day or two? 

Next to one of Oaknoll's perimeter fences, we had a wooden play fort that became my make-believe house on some days and my holdout in battle on other days. There was a slide from the second story to the ground, and I remember playing "table hockey" with walnuts on that slanted board. The creativity of childhood is unparalleled, isn't it?! When I think about the hours and hours of imagination and dreaming that took place in that corner of the world, I can think of no other time in life when my creativity has carried me so far. 

But what if we could access that depth of inventiveness and unfettered conception again, here and now?

Unfortunately, I can't run around Oaknoll this weekend. I am thousands of miles away, and the trappings of adulthood prevent me from hopping on a plane and returning without extensive prior planning. But I am surrounded by mountains, trees that are slowly starting to shift color palettes, and lakes that dazzle in the sun. My world is far more expansive these days; what if, just for the weekend, I chose to access the freedom of my childhood as well? 

What was your magical place as a child? 

What can you do this weekend to recreate that enchantment?