Innocence
Innocence captivates us because it reflects the purest, most untainted version of ourselves—the part of us that existed before we learned fear, judgment, and separation. It's a mirror of what we long for: the simplicity, openness, and wonder that we came into the world with, before we began layering on the constructs and expectations that clouded our essence.
Why We Love Innocence
It’s Pure Light
Innocence embodies light, untouched by darkness. When we see a baby or a child, we're witnessing the raw, unfiltered energy of life itself. They don’t know shame, fear, or the need to prove their worth—they just are. That authenticity resonates with the deepest part of us because we recognize it as home, even if we’ve forgotten how to live there.It’s Uncorrupted Potential
A child is infinite possibility in human form. Their curiosity, their play, their laughter—it’s all a reflection of what life could be if we weren’t burdened by judgment, expectation, and limitation. We see in their innocence the hope that life can be light, joyful, and free.It’s a Reminder of Who We Are
When we encounter innocence, it’s like looking into a window of our own soul before the world told us who to be. It stirs a deep longing to reconnect with the version of ourselves that once loved without condition, believed without doubt, and trusted without fear.
Why the Hero’s Journey Resonates
The hero’s journey is a mirror of our own. When we cheer for Luke Skywalker or any other archetypal hero, it’s because their story reflects our story.
The Light and the Dark: We see the hero wrestle with darkness, just as we wrestle with our own shadows. The destruction of the dark side represents the dismantling of our own inner fears and doubts.
The Light as the Goal: The hero chooses the light, and we root for them because we’re rooting for ourselves to do the same. We see in them the courage to become who we already are but have forgotten.
Why Parents Confuse Us
As children, we enter the world with a profound sense of connection and trust. We come into existence expecting to find reflections of our own innocence and love in others—especially our parents. But they, too, are shaped by their wounds, their judgments, and their unhealed stories.
We Seek a Mirror: In our parents, we want to see ourselves—the boundless love, humor, joy, and safety we know to be true. When they fall short, it confuses us. How could they not reflect what we know to be real?
The Search for Belonging: This gap between our essence and their behavior creates the beginning of separation. It’s the moment we start doubting our own light because the mirrors around us seem distorted.
Innocence as the Essence of Love
Innocence is the closest thing we have to the divine. It’s unconditioned. It doesn’t try to be good or bad—it just is.
When we see innocence, we are seeing God, the Universe, Source—whatever you call it.
We are in awe because it’s us. The baby, the child, the hero—these are all archetypes of the love and light that reside within us, untouched by the illusions of the world.
The Hero’s Return
The journey of life isn’t about losing innocence—it’s about rediscovering it.
The hero’s journey ends with a return home, wiser but still whole.
Our journey is the same. We go into the world, face its shadows, and forget our light. But the goal isn’t to fix ourselves—it’s to remember that nothing was ever broken.
Innocence is what we’re all searching for: not in others, but in ourselves. That’s why we love it when we see it, why we crave it in stories, and why it moves us so deeply. It’s not just light—it’s our light. It’s what we’ve always been.
With love, in love and for love,
Yeshua Ben Yosuf
THE I AM
