Salt and blue food colouring

Is it true?

This site (I used to believe: The Childhood Beliefs Site) is interesting. As the name suggests, it's a collection of things people used to believe when they were children.

Some beliefs are introduced to us through others (e.g. wish on a shooting star and your wish will come true) ... and some beliefs we come up with ourselves. Children trust and believe in simple things in a way that (most) adults don't. But just because (most) adults don't, does that mean that what the child believes at the point of believing is not 'true' to him or her? When and why do we stop believing in certain things? And how did we feel in that moment of 'realisation'?

I'm sure I believed all kinds of things when I was small, but off the top of my head I can recall very few now. For the few I remember, I see ways in which they still somehow apply to my view of life today.

1. If we plant coins and water them every day they will grow. Our parents used to tell us 'money doesn't grow on trees'. Not believing them/wanting to prove them wrong, I planted coins in the front garden with my sister Kathryn. We constantly watered our little spot. Weeds eventually grew, leading us to believe that our coins were germinating. Maybe at some point we showed our parents the money trees and they told us they were weeds. I no longer believe that watered coins will grow into money trees, but I believe that we can use certain 'ritualistic' acts to empower and encourage us ... and also that if we attend to our intentions or focus on our dreams, they will manifest in some way ... not always as we envision, but definitely along the lines of this process.

2. We have zips hidden in our hair. We can zip down the centre of the body and step out of our skin. I remember as a very young child standing in the kitchen one day looking for the zip in my hair. I think this came about from my fascination with what makes us work. What makes me move? What operates me? How come my legs move and carry me? I have no plug, no electricity and no buttons to press to make me move and walk and talk. Something must be inside of me making me 'work'. I no longer believe in 'the zip', but I see the 'skin' as a covering for the inner self/Spirit, which is 'working' us in an unseen way.

3. There is a button in the centre of the forehead which you press to make the person go to sleep. I have the clear memory of a day when I was about six. My sister Vanessa had just been born and I think I must have been fascinated by her. She, mummy and I were at home. I remember being in the kitchen with mummy, hearing the baby start to cry and going into my parents' room where she was lying in her crib. I remember standing and looking at her crying, being curious about her, seeing her face getting red ... then taking my finger and pressing it gently into the middle of her forehead like a button. She immediately stopped crying and fell asleep. In my memory it feels like a long time that I had been staring at her crying ... but it must have happened quickly, because I guess if she'd been crying for a long time mummy would have attended to her. I no longer believe that there is an actual button in the forehead, but I know that area now to be 'the third eye' and to this day I still see it as a relaxing point to press on myself or another ... and it works. Also, it's a point to focus on in meditation.

I remember once our parents promised we would go to the beach. That day there was a bad tropical storm. My two sisters and I were highly disappointed. Daddy filled up the bathtub, put some salt and blue food colouring in the water and we happily splashed in 'the sea' as the storm raged outside.

Now as I write this, I'm aware that having grown up with simple moments like that, in addition to having had childhood 'beliefs' (especially as I can still see some kind of sense in those I remember today) must have contributed to me being a natural optimist and one who believes in the simple magic of Life.

Being human, of course there are times when I feel disgruntled, discouraged, sad, scared, insecure, unable, unhappy, apathetic, etc ... but whenever storms rage within and around, there's always salt and blue food colouring.