Helping & Healing

What Do Children Need to Hear Right Now?: You Are Loved

You are loved.

At Sparkle Stories, we are reflecting on what children need to hear right now, and this concept comes to mind right away: “You Are Loved.” It can be easy to forget, or question, or even stop believing. The truth is we all need to be reminded sometimes, whether we are children or adults or anywhere in between!

A few weeks ago, I needed this reminder. I was having a rough day — you probably know the sort. The kind of day when my shoulders were a little more tensed-up than usual, my chest was a little tighter, and I was keeping my head down. At first, I tried to bury myself in tasks and to-do’s. I tried to ignore what my body and heart were telling me.

I felt disconnected. And when we feel disconnected it’s natural to want to reconnect. To do something that will give us a feeling of validation.

Often, when we see children experiencing this, we know to remind them that they are loved, and safe, and good. It’s a bit trickier when we are adults.

Sometimes we get a little off-course and forget that our value doesn’t come from what we do or how well we do it, but from who we are, just because we are.

Luckily, I remembered to take a pause that day (okay, maybe I was reminded by a wise friend).

I stepped away and we spent a few hours outside. We started with a walk in my neighborhood, then visited a nearby park. Then we took a trek over the Jacksonville riverwalk (which is beautiful and just a couple of miles from my apartment). This adventure didn’t take very long, but it shifted my perspective.

On our walk back over the heart-lock bridge, we encountered two women taking pictures with a cut-out sign that read “You Are Loved.” It was perfect timing. It felt a little like magic. A little like kismet. They asked us to take a picture holding the sign. So naturally, we asked about their inspiration. What was their message?

Jenna and Emily told us they’d noticed how so many people were having a difficult time remembering this. The pandemic has kept so many in isolation, away from family and friends. They wanted to do something to remind people. That day on the Riverwalk they reminded me. Check out the You are Loved Campaign on Instagram here.

Sometimes chance encounters impact us in meaningful ways. What I’ve noticed is that when someone takes a moment to spread love and kindness, it is a bit infectious. We often forget this as adults. But when you watch any child, you can easily remember! When I am inspired and reminded that I am loved, I want to extend that even further. I needed to be reminded that I was loved that day.

And I was! And I am. And so are you.

And when I am reminded, it makes me want to make sure other people remember, too. And that is a tiny piece of what is so beautiful about the world we are in and the people in it with us.

In addition to providing affirmations as parents or role models, we can help children to begin getting in touch with that sense of worth and value from within. Here are three resources and tools from Sparkle Stories that can help to remind children that they are loved by cultivating an inner sense of self-worth and connection to the present moment:

1. Meditations to Soothe Collection: Three short guided meditations that teach children to draw upon the gifts of their own miraculous body and practice playfully exploring the reliable, marvelous senses.
2. Sit Spot Tutorial: Sit spots are a fantastic way to connect with yourself and with your environment without too much effort. The main objective of a sit spot is to have a place in nature that you return to over and over where you sit completely still, allowing yourself to blend into the environment. When we slow down and take time to be still, that’s when the magic happens.
3. Body-Based Movement Tools: Last year, we teamed up with Margery Segal, a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist. Today we are revisiting these body-based tools, and sharing them with you! These exercises, which are great for dealing with anxiety, can also be used by kids and adults alike to center and ground in the present moment, and cultivate an inner sense of self-worth.