12 :Child's Play - Something Borrowed

Living Through Imagination

 

How wonderful it would be if we were able to tap in to the mind of a child, to see the world from their perspective and enjoy again the fascination of make believe and raw imagination.  I know I would love it.  Imagine if a young child had the skills to be able to write a book and tell their story, their point of view of the world.  What a fascinating read it would be.  Unfortunately by the time we are able to converse properly, particularly through written form, we have already begun to lose much of that magical fascination of make believe and imagination.

 

Although growing up and learning about how the world works is truly fascinating and a necessary part of life.  Losing that part of us that lives in a world of imagination and make believe, where almost anything is possible, is a sad fact.  Of course there are many of us that don't want to truly let that part of ourselves completely go and enjoy losing ourselves within fascinating sci fi stories, living amongst different worlds of imagination through books and films.  However, it is not quite the same, as adults we understand that this is make believe and can choose to lose ourselves for a short while.  As children, however, they don't always fully understand where make believe ends and reality begins.  The older we get the more we realise exactly when we are enjoying imagination and it becomes a choice. 

 

As a parent I truly enjoy watching my two youngest Master 4 and Master 7 act out the games that reside in their minds.  The older they get the stronger the mix of television shows, movies and books influence their play.  Through play they learn to make sense of their world, a world where make believe and reality are truly a scrambled mix.  Sometimes it can be very hard for them to understand the difference.

 

Before life becomes all too serious it's nice to be young and enjoy the time to play, grow and expand our minds.  Those of us that are fortunate enough to hold on to parts of that kind of thinking grow up to be truly creative individuals and often don't conform to society norms and expectations.  However, we need a world with creative thinkers that can imagine beyond the four square walls of the classroom, and tap into that creative part of ourselves that we all once enjoyed in freedom as a child.

 

So while we can still enjoy it I will continue to run with the boys from the pterodactyls that chase them on our walk to school, and hide from the T-Rex that inevitably jumps out at us when we walk through the 'forest' near our home.  After all you really have to watch those very fast and pesky velociraptors that force our mad dash for the car.  It's nice to be part of a world where dragons are real, even though we kind of really know they're not, and are their friends.  I envy that the boys have such loyal friends to fight along side them in a world that resides in that special place we all have deep inside of us; our imagination...