I liked your post as its something I think we need to be reminded us.
Anita is right there are unhealthy “dreams’ or hopes/fantasy that should not be held onto however I don’t think that is what you meant.

When I think of the inner child I think of eyes made for wonder… eyes still open to wonder.

You reminded me of something I read a few years ago and I think was in need of remembering.

“If you have a place in your life where your eyes can still gape, your knees quiver, and your mind boggle, you are open for wonder. and, open to wonder, you are ready for life’s surprises, even the greatest of all; that it can be all right when everything is wrong.

Keep the door open to wonder and even the ordinary people around you will take on and odd dimension of mystery. Every person you know will be a potential eye-opener. You may meet people you do not like, but you will never again meet a person you can take for granted.
Wonder kills stereotypes. All the people clustered around you – people bound to you by routine loyalty, others floating at the fringes of your inner circle – they are all awesome folk, each one hiding a mystery far to deep for the likes of us to have all figured out.

If we could get tuned to see the wonder in other people, we may also be ready for the mystery of our own selves. there is more to us then meets the eye. Do not let the wonder-killers of the world destroy your sense of wonder at the mystery and marvel of your very soul.

With wonder you may be able , when the dark sky falls upon you, when life is skewed, your situation off center, you may just be able to see what others cannot see, at a level below any they guess existed. in spite of everything, you may be able to know that your are all right.

Blessed are the wonder-full, for they shell see G_d, and they alone shall know themselves. LB Smedes

Thanks