How Revisiting Your Childhood Interests Can Heal Your Soul

My mom always asks, “How’s your heart?”

Growing up, I would ask my friends that in kind, thinking it was a casual question to pose. For some of them, no one had ever asked them that. The gratitude they expressed proved to me that this was not only an important question — it was the question.

We learned in grade school to take care of our physical health. As we got older, especially in recent years, most of us learned the importance of caring for our mental health. Taking care of your heart must also be up there.

For me, I do that by diving into the sweeping romances of fantasy and historical fiction. Cue: A Thousand Years by Christina Perri followed by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Whether it’s movies, TV shows, music, books, Renaissance Faire outfits, or works of art, it all makes my heart soar.

For my boyfriend, it’s horror movies and open-world video games. For you, it’s likely something else entirely. I hope it’s multiple things. But the best things are the hobbies and interests we enjoyed when we were young.

Animal Crossing came out at the perfect time in 2020 — right when everyone needed an immediate dopamine hit. The calming video game did more than just entertain everyone — it ignited a sense of childhood. I watched my roommate get sucked in for hours and realized I could find my own version of this.

As a child, I always wished I could be Arwen or Hermione or even Eragon (book version although we do love Ed Speelers). So I immersed myself back into the fantasy of it all and found that it still holds as strong of a place in my heart now as it did when I was seven or twelve. Now, I have a whole world of adult forms to explore too. (Yes, I mean ACOTAR, however, I am not finished with the first book and Tamlin seems great so DON’T SAY A WORD).

The results have been profound.

The zest for life I had as an 8-year-old has been renewed. Overall, I’m much calmer and a sense of self-actualization has overcome me.

I’m not alone in reacting this way either. Arthur Markman, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Texas and co-host of Two Guys on Your Head podcast on NPR gave an interview to Thrive Global in which he and the author, Rebecca Muller Feintuch, said,

“… making the time to explore our old favorite pastimes once again can help us rediscover the creativity and enjoyment we had as children. ‘It’s a way of reminding yourself of a period in your life when you had interests beyond the next email that needed to be answered,’ he adds.”

For many of us in 2020, we had time to engage with our hobbies for the first time in a long while. Markman puts forth, though, “You don’t have to give up on your passions just because you have responsibilities… You can fit little moments of joy into your life. And you should.” I personally have kept up these fantastical interests (as evidenced by this blog) and I sincerely hope most people have.

If not, give yourself permission to do so.

They go on to say how impactful interests particularly from our childhood can be. “The older you get, the happier you feel by tapping into your younger self,” and that it can bring deep comfort says Markman. That’s why when we’re all in retirement homes, we’ll be playing Mario Kart on the Wii instead of checkers.

Rather than forcing yourself to read or do crosswords or whatever other “adult hobbies” one can think of, why not do something that makes you luminously happy?

“One of the oldest and most generous tricks that the universe plays on human beings is to bury strange jewels deep within us all, and then stand back to see if we can find them.” — Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic: Creating Living Beyond Fear (author of Eat, Pray, Love)

An article from Peaceful Dumpling magazine quotes an assistant clinical professor from Harvard Medical School named Carol Kauffman who says,

“When you’re really engaged in a hobby you love, you lose your sense of time and enter what’s called a flow state, and that restores your mind and energy. In a flow state, you are completely submerged in an experience, requiring a high level of concentration.”

That’s why some folks say video games are a form of meditation because they require such deep focus. For me, it’s why I immerse myself in other worlds entirely.

Discovering fantasy and historical romance as an adult made me feel like myself again at a time when I felt the furthest from that.

Pride and Prejudice had never clicked with me when I was watching the BBC version with my grandma or the 2005 one with my friend in middle school. Then I read it a few years ago and my entire world changed. (Of course). I re-watched both versions and grabbed every other adaptation I could get my hands on. Now, it would be impossible to rip Austen from my identity.

I have stickers of medieval artwork of Joan of Arc and fairies on my laptop, I light candles whenever I can, and I either have instrumental soundtracks or YouTube videos of fantasy tavern ambiance playing in the background at all times.

I was at my lowest emotionally, physically, and mentally in 2021 and fantasy brought me back. The smile returned to my face. My heart rate slowed down. I was whisked away into my imagination and therefore my salvation.

Hobbies bring people together too, but when it’s a hobby that touches your heart this deeply, those people mean that much more to you. The folks I’ve found on Tik Tok are the best friends I never had as a young girl. Just today, I discovered the Helsinki band Apocalyptica by listening to someone’s playlist on Spotify solely because their cover art looked something like this:

I could watch fantasy and young adult stories all day long, no matter how “good” or “bad” they are. There are of course the big hitters of Twilight, Harry Potter, Stardust, The Hunger Games, etc., but I’ve highlighted a few of the deep dives I’ve done (in no particular order) in case you are craving something new. Foreign cinema actually has a lot of great fantasy that’s untapped by Western audiences and I’ve included some of them here.

Some of these on this list might not be the *best*, but if you’re like me and have already seen everything in these genres numerous times, then these will all scratch that itch.

• If you have any recommendations with this vibe, PLEASE share them in the comments because I’m always searching for something to sink my teeth into!
• My recommendations for strict romances will have to be another article entirely. They deserve their day in the sunshine.

TV Shows

Outlander (2014 — Today, English)

The Last Kingdom (2015–2022, English)

Firefly (2002–2003, English)

Death Comes to Pemberley (2013, English)

The Shannara Chronicles (2016–2017, English)

Hemlock Grove (2013–2015, English)

The White Queen (2013, English)

Merlin (2008–2012, English)

Over the Garden Wall (2014, English)

Myths & Monsters (2017, English)

Dark Tourist (2018, English)

The Witcher (2019 — Today, English)

Gravity Falls (2012–2016, English)

Movies

King Arthur (2004, English)

Your Name. (2016, Japanese)

The Brothers Grimm (2005, English)

Ophelia (2018, English)

Timeline (2003, English)

Peter Pan (2003, English)

Attack the Block (2011, English)

Hero (2002, Mandarin)

Troy (2004, English)

I Am Dragon (2015, Russian)

Beautiful Creatures (2013, English)

The Eagle (2011, English)

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989, English)

Willow (1988, English)

Fallen (2016, English)

The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004, English) — followed by The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines (2006, English) and The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008, English)

The Darkest Hour (2011, English)

How I Live Now (2013, English)

The 5th Wave (2016, English)

Love and Monsters (2020, English)

I Am Number Four (2011, English)

Beastly (2011, English)

Aeon Flux (2005, English)

I Think We’re Alone Now (2018, English)

Tales From Earthsea (2006, Japanese)

The Wave (2015, Norwegian) — followed by The Quake (2018, Norwegian)

City of Ember (2008, English)

Red Riding Hood (2011, English)

Inkheart (2008, English)

The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King (2017, Norwegian) — followed by The Ash Lad: In Search of the Golden Castle (2019, Norwegian)

Dorian Gray (2009, English)

The Covenant (2006, English)

Ender’s Game (2013, English)

Three Wishes for Cinderella (2021, Norwegian)

The Host (2013, English)

The Curse of Sleeping Beauty (2016, English)

Vampires Suck (2010, English)

Legend (1985, English)

Wolves (2014, English)

Constantine (2005, English)

Dragonheart (1996, English)

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016, English)

Serenity (2005, English)

Castle in the Sky (1986, Japanese)

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019, English)

Teen Wolf (1985, English)

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009, English)

Maleficent (2014, English)

The Witcher — Nightmare of the Wolf (2021, English)

Vampire Academy (2014, English)

Wolfwalkers (2020, Irish)

Agora (2009, English)

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997, English)

A Wrinkle in Time (2003, English)

The NeverEnding Story (1984, English)

The Lost City (2022, English)

Prey (2022, Comanche)

Beauty and the Beast (2014, French)

Rosaline (2022, English)

So, I ask you: How is your heart?

What can you do to heal it? What is the one thing that always makes it soar? Put on that album, pop in that VHS, run through the park like Phoebe in that episode of Friends, or go dig up some worms in your backyard. Ask your 8-year-old self — they’ll know.

Escapism is everything. I welcome all fangirling, impassioned rants, and fantastical explorations — real or not.