The Fidget

As a child, I was always moving — climbing trees, racing bikes, running until my legs blurred in family movies. Today it might be called hyperactive, but movement was my way of knowing the world.

Sitting in a plum tree, I was deeply attentive — to bugs crawling on bark, to the smell of leaves, to the quiet song rising from the tree itself. It gave me peace and made me feel at home in my skin.

What if fidgeting isn’t a flaw, but a message? What if it tells us that what we’re doing in the moment doesn’t feed our soul? When we follow our fidgets, we may find what truly grabs our attention — the things that spark joy and meaning.

Sometimes we reach the “Yes” by listening carefully to the “No.”

Here’s to plum trees, restless legs, and following the fidget back to joy.

Fidgeting is often a sign of anxiety in the body, something we explore through anxiety therapy and nervous system regulation work. Sometimes what we suppress emotionally resurfaces physically.