At nine years old, my niece might just be the wisest and most creative person in the room.

There is something about spending time with a nine-year-old that returns you to your own inner child. Sitting at my sister’s kitchen table helping my niece pour glitter into a butterfly-shaped soap mold, I am struck by her unbridled joy.

Mel Robbins says that, “Happiness is not something you find, it’s something you create”. In my early fifties I need to be reminded of this but at nine, my niece knows it intrinsically.

She skips in the doorway after school with a wide smile, holding an intricate handmade owl-shaped vase. After supper, she creates a flower out of a stack of colourful sticky tabs.

I had bought them to use as book markers, but she saw something else.

Lesson 1: Make space for creativity

I have so much to learn from this season of intense creativity, from my niece’s overflowing craft cupboard, and the hours she spends hand-drawing posters with positive messages like “good vibes only” and “never stop chasing your dreams.”

Lesson 2: Dance more

The courtyard outside her condo is filled with sidewalk chalk hopscotch mazes and reminders to “dance more”. As I head to bed, my niece hands me her favourite Taylor Swift pillow. I find myself humming “Me-e-e, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh / I’m the only one of me / Baby, that’s the fun of me…”

When we walk to the park, she skips ahead. She notices people, animals, and colours, the shapes of leaves. She points them out to me along our way, chattering the whole time.

Lesson 3: Swing higher

A swim at Second Beach is filled with underwater handstands and backflips. Afterwards on the swing set, her long legs stretch higher, each swing bringing her closer to her goal: for her toes to brush against the branches of a nearby tree. She keeps swinging until her toe grazes the broad leaf maple.

The chance to spend four days with my sister and her family was fulfilling in so many ways, but the lessons I learned after a few days seeing the world through the eyes of a nine-year old will stick with me. As I head back to my Monday to Friday routine, I feel a skip in my step. I am reminded of my nine-year-old self, and all the possibilities that exist when you swing as high as you can and “never stop chasing your dreams”.

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Jennifer Cox, founder of COCO Strategies is a communications professional and leadership coach based in Western Canada. The best part of my work: helping others find their story and bringing that vision to life.