In order to participate in this next exercise,
you first need to relax yourself.
Recall the first home you can remember as a child,
and actually look for and try to visualize yourself
as a little child in that house.
Yes.
John.
Now close your eyes.
Close your eyes and just let yourself
go back to the first memories.
It may be an apartment, a farmhouse, whatever.
It may be an orphanage.
It may be wherever you lived.
The first memory that comes to you of being a child.
And just imagine that the grown up
you was standing there looking at that place
and that you could somehow see inside of that house.
See your mom.
What's she doing?
If you had a mom.
See your dad if he's there.
Brothers or sisters, if you had any.
And then just imagine you could see a little child--
the little child you once were.
Really take a look at them.
What are they wearing?
Look at their hair, and their face, and their eyes.
Tell them, I'm the one that wrote you the letter
and I've come to get you.
I want you to come home with me.
I know better than anybody what you've been through
and I love you just the way you are.
And I want to be your champion.
I want you to come and live with me.
I want to be your champion.
And if you're willing, pack up a little bag
and bring your favorite toy.
Do you have a puppy or a kitty cat?
You bring that, too.
And if it scares you to leave with me,
then you can stay here.
I'll come and visit you.
But if you're willing to leave, go get your little bag packed.
And when they come out with their little bag,
take them by the hand.
You may have to hold the child for this
because I want you to see your mom, and dad,
and the whole family out on the porch
or out in front of the wherever.
And you hold the child and have the child tell your mom
and dad, I have to leave now.
I have to leave now.
I have to have a life of my own.
I know that you did the best you could or you were sick,
but I've got to get out of here now.
So take the child by the hand and start
walking away from that house.
And you may feel like running back, but don't do it.
Hold the child real tight.
Keep walking.
Keep walking away from there.
And just keep looking at them and waving goodbye.
You have to leave that home.
You can't have a life of your own until you do.
So keep walking because you're coming to a turn in the road.
You're coming to a bend, and you're going
to have to make that turn.
You're going to have to make that turn.
So keep walking and looking back.
They're getting smaller and smaller now.
They're getting smaller and smaller.
Now make the turn.
Make the turn, and they're gone.
And look straight ahead and see somebody that loves
you out there calling to you.
Come on.
Come on, we're waiting for you.
They're calling to you, come on.
If you have a higher power, see them out there calling to you.
Your higher power is calling to you.
If you have a group you're in, see them calling to you.
All the people you love, see them calling to you,
waiting for you.
Hold that little child in your arms and tell them,
we're going to make it.
Hey, we're going to make it.
I'm here for you now.
I'm your champion.
We have this new family of affiliation
and we have a higher power.
And show them.
Show them your child.
Show them how beautiful your child is.
Let them love that little precious child that was in you.
Just feel all those people there that you have support
and you have a power greater than your parents.
And you have you.
And then just be alone with the child now.
Just say goodbye to everybody and just be alone.
And look at the child.
Just look at your little child.
Tell them, welcome to the world.
I'm so glad you're here.
I'm so glad you're a girl.
I'm so glad you're a boy.
It's OK to cry.
It's OK to be angry.
It's OK to be afraid.
It's OK to be happy, and have fun, and play.
We're going to have a lot of fun together.
I'm going to see to it that we have fun together.
And I love you just the way you are.
I love you just the way you are.
Now just imagine you could take the child
and put them in your heart.
Just imagine that you could put the child in your heart
so that they're as close to you as the air you breathe,
so that when you breathe in and out,
you feel that little child there.
You feel your feelings.
You feel your needs.
You feel your wants.
And it's all there right in your heart.
It's all there and you're connected.
This is a homecoming.
Some of us felt homesick at home.
Some of us have never had a home.
We never had a home.
There was never a safe place, a haven
where we could be who we were without being shamed and hurt.
So feel that child.
And you're going to remember this child in the weeks
and the months to come.
You're not going to forget this child.
This child's right there in your heart.
So just take a nice deep breath now.
Take another deep breath.
Feel the chair you're sitting in, your clothes on your body.
And just very slowly open your eyes now.
Very slowly open your eyes.