Books to Blogs #6
This week’s question was pulled from 3001 Questions All About Me. Here is number 2821: “Who Would I Trade Places With for One Year?”
It’s not often I think about wanting to trade places with anyone. Most of the time, I’m busy helping people uncover who they are—not imagining being someone else. When choosing the question, I closed my eyes, twirled my finger over the page, and there it was.
One year. A full cycle of seasons, experiences, challenges, and lessons.
My first instinct? “No one.” I like being me. My life, while layered with lessons and growth, is uniquely mine—and I’ve worked hard to come home to myself.
But the deeper I went, the more I realized that trading places isn’t about dissatisfaction or envy. It can be about curiosity, expansion, and stepping outside the self to view the world through a different lens. A form of soulful exploration.
So, after sitting with the question, here’s who I’d choose: A very young child. Maybe around four or five years old.
Not a famous author, global leader, or jet-setting adventurer (although tempting). Not even a specific person by name—but that magical archetype of childhood. Before the world began whispering who to be.
That magical window—before we start school, before we’re handed labels, rules, or limitations. When we’re still fluent in imagination, still in tune with the invisible, still so fully ourselves. The kind of child who hums melodies no one’s ever taught them, or paints galaxies without ever having seen the stars through a telescope. A child whose dreams haven’t been dismissed, whose inner world is still vivid and alive.
I remember asking deep questions as a child. Not “What do you want to be when you grow up?” but “Why are we here?” “Where were we before we were born?” I was drawn to dreams, spirits, and energies even before I had words for them. I felt things—really felt them—and noticed when others didn’t. I knew there was more to this world than what we could see.
I’ve come to understand that those questions weren’t just passing curiosities. They were breadcrumbs back to my truth. My work now—through energy healing, spiritual coaching, and deep listening—isn’t so different from what I did then. I just have better language for it.
If I could trade places with that younger self—free, unfiltered, unshaped by expectation—I imagine I’d return with even more clarity. I’d re-learn the art of being rather than performing.
I want to remember before.
Before the rules.
Before the responsibilities.
Before the filters of “this is real” and “that’s not possible.”
I want to move through the world with that level of openness again. To remember what it feels like to wake up and think, “What will I discover today?” instead of “What do I need to get done?”
I imagine waking up with paint and crayons on my fingers, barefoot in the grass, talking to animals as if they understand me—because maybe they do. I imagine asking a million questions without worrying if they’re “silly.” Being endlessly curious, unapologetically present, deeply connected to the dream world, unafraid of being different, and full of wonder without needing permission.
There’s power in reconnecting to that part of ourselves—the part that believed in magic, possibility, and invisible friends. I think if I spent a year as that version of a human, I’d come back to myself with more compassion, more softness, and definitely more color in my life.
So maybe this question wasn’t asking who I envy. Maybe it was nudging me to remember.
And now I turn it to you.
If you could trade places with anyone for one year, who would you choose?
A world leader? A celebrity? A spiritual teacher? A scientist on the verge of discovery? A world traveler exploring the mountains of Nepal?
Or maybe it’s not about becoming someone else—but returning to a version of you that the world hasn’t seen in a while.
Would you become someone admired, or revisit a version of yourself that you’re just beginning to rediscover?
I’d love to hear your answers. I’m listening.
Thanks for being here. If you enjoyed this post, there’s plenty more where that came from, everything from soulful healing tips to playful prompts and real conversations about life.
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Email: theresa@flexiblebeing.com
Empowering Your Journey to Healing, Clarity, and Self-Discovery.
Theresa Martinez-Shapiro
Hello! I am Theresa Martinez-Shapiro; Wife to Robert. Founder of Flexible Being. A Master Reiki Therapist, Certified Oracle Guide, Spiritual Mentor/Guide, Intuitive Empath, Coach, and Educator. I am a fur mom to 3 cats and 1 dog – Sonny, Patches, Ryelee, and Winnie. We currently live and practice in Stockton, California. We operate three businesses – Shapiro Holistic Health and Chiropractic, Fusion Health APC, and Synergy Health MSO, where we seek to improve and change the lives of our patients and those we have the privilege of crossing paths with. My healing and mentoring journey began around 5 years old when I discovered that I was put on this planet to help others. I knew I was different, unique, and gifted. I did not see the world the same way everyone else did, and recognized I was meant to do so much more. I began to research, spending a lot of time reading & asking a lot of questions to anyone that wanted to share stories about their life experiences. I am a dreamer and had a unique relationship with the dream world. My very real, vivid & lucid dreams began turning into out-of-body experiences and unexplained occurrences. I began doing my own dream interpretations to look for patterns & a new way of deciphering life. Family members were part of many different religions, so I was educated in Catholicism, Buddhism, Metaphysics, and Native American culture & beliefs. Along the way, I took up multiple mentors that cultivated my growth and expansion of my gifts, allowing me to focus on my potential and purpose. As an adult, coworkers were unloading their life stories, internal secrets, and things that had not been shared or even spoken out loud. I began to share those experiences with my aunt & Reiki Master/Teacher, Carmen. In 2012, Carmen told me, “I think you are ready to walk the path I always knew you were meant to walk”. That saying began my obsessive journey into Reiki, Spirituality, Psychology, Intuition and Psychic gifts, Meditation and Mindfulness, Past Lives, Consciousness, Energy Medicine, Mysteries of the Universe, Moon and Sun cycles, Astrology, Numerology, Oracle Cards, Shamanism, & so much more. My journey has helped me to assist patients, clients, families, and friends discover who they have been, who they are, and who they want to become. I am expanding my reach and educating others by authoring Musings of a Flexible Being, and I look forward to sharing my journey with you. Thank you! Theresa Martinez-Shapiro Flexible Being Website: www.flexiblebeing.com Socials: Facebook: @flexiblebeingonline Instagram:@theresamartinezshapiro Instagram: @flexiblebeing
