The Outer Child

I came across this idea that we all have an inner child, an outer child, and then our adult self. The inner child is the sweet innocent, needing part of us that wants love and gets scared. The vulnerable inner core if you will. The outer child is the protective, overbearing, impulsive part of us that grasps what it wants, throws tantrums, yells and screams and pleasure seeks. The adult self is the everyday acting self that walks around and interacts with the world.

The idea behind this is that we all have these three aspects to ourselves but often don't acknowledge or work with them. So the inner and outer child remain ignored with intermittent appearances depending on the situation. For example, you get injured emotionally by someone you care about, your inner child feels scared and sad, so you outer child throws a fit to push away the injuring party. The adult self deals with the repercussions, by feeling a deep sadness and regret at the outer child's actions.

It is interesting to look at oneself this way. Acknowledging your various parts and interacting and accepting them but not letting them run rampant. Creating a dialogue and gentle acceptance of the various components that make us all tick and integrating them lovingly.