Ashley Judd Celebrates 58th Birthday by Honoring Her Inner 12-Year-Old Self

The Emmy-nominated actress recently shared a series of pictures on social media showing her followers, friends and family how she spent her 58th birthday on April 19.

She also penned a long note in the caption, as she wrote, "My inner 12-year-old was ready to receive love, care, attunement, delight, protection, and provision".

In the pictures, the actress can be seen seated on a chair outdoors, smiling beside a cake with brown and yellow icing. Colorful candles with the number "12" were placed atop the celebratory dessert.

She further mentioned, "Have you ever considered, from your adult perspective, restaging for your sweet inner child an experience she either never had at all? Or an experience that did not unfold with the safety and attention it should have? I deeply enjoy doing this from a loving inner-parent perspective for my inner family. Many of us grew up with unmet needs. Today, as adults, we can listen carefully to those missings, identify what happened that should not have happened, and, crucially, what did not happen that should have happened, supplying that, now, with love and humor to ourselves. I don't remember any of my birthdays growing up. I do remember loving some elements of Mrs. Minor's 6th grade class at Grassland Elementary in 1979: science, geology, dinosaurs with their hilarious tiny arms and giant mouths eating leaves from treetops, learning the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, and discovering a cute trick for remembering the difference between convex and concave".

"I also loved the 6 weeks(!) of square dancing in PE! Didn't you want to come home and wiggle, squirm, and show off your jig? I did. But at home? There was no parent (or adult) supporting, nurturing, guiding and reinforcing my learning, delighting in, or protecting that little girl. This past weekend, alongside sensitive, playful people who also relish carefree timelessness, we restaged my 12th birthday party. We backfilled what was always missing and no longer is, thanks to vulnerable imagination. We laughed, frolicked, square danced, took a Scopes Monkey Trial True or False quiz (including quite a bit Mrs. Minor did not cover in 1979), and ate a dream cake any 12-year-old would adore. We also anonymously wrote down 6th grade shames, placing them in a safe jar where others could read them with empathy (and maybe even a little 12-year-old problem solving).. Shame reduction! Who knew others were also awkward and scared at times", she added.

- IANS