Exercising Imagination.
It used to be a snap. I'd say,"Let's pretend this is the ocean, and that corner will be the castle, ok? I'll have a purple fin. What color fin do you want?"
And there it was. I could see everything. I was a mermaid with a shimmering purple fin and waist-length dark hair, swimming in the ocean with my best friend (also a mermaid) to the castle on land.
We'd play for hours in the pool. When we were sunburnt, we were told to come inside. We'd pretend we were two orphans tricked into being servants in the palace of an evil wizard. We would spend the afternoon plotting ways to escape and building forts and making costumes out of bedsheets and towels.
Imagination was no problem. It was easy to point, pretend, and believe.
I've resorted to facebook, youtube and going to the movies when I'm bored. When I hang out with friends, we talk, eat, and watch movies. I have to remind myself to exercise my imagination.
My creativity.
I know I'm supposed to grow up, I'm not regretting the loss of my innocent, make-believe days. I embrace them, and I embrace who I am. I've just begun to realize that imagination is what separates me from everyone else. What separates humankind from the animals. It is a privilege to have a creative mind. We've come dangerously close to sacrificing it altogether.
To embrace the privilege of creative expression is consistent with being made in the image and likeness of our Creator. God's a Creator. His children should bear his likeness, which means they should be creative.
I got stuck in a pattern and made myself believe I was obligated to follow it. I stopped being creative. I stopped trying things. Then one sunny day, I decided to take a nap on top of my car. Then another day, I scaled the stone wall up to my balcony. I had to climb back down by tying my scarf to one of the poles. And now I have scratches and scars on my hands and feet. I took a walk through the desert. I picked wildflowers. I wrote a short story with way too many adjectives. I spent some time alone. I climbed on top of my roof and watched the sunset do a magic trick. I read two books in five days. You know, just to get myself back into the swing of things.
Sometimes I want to rip the power cord out of my computer and throw the whole blasted thing out the window. Maybe one day.
In the long run, I'd really like a peaceful life. Yes, I want to live in the big city in a tiny, single-room apartment over a general store and work my way through college as a starving artist, yes. I want that very much indeed. But in my heart of hearts, what I really want is a cottage in New Zealand. Or the English countryside. A place to do things the slow way. A nice, green place to do things the slow way. Yes, I'd like that very much indeed.
And there it was. I could see everything. I was a mermaid with a shimmering purple fin and waist-length dark hair, swimming in the ocean with my best friend (also a mermaid) to the castle on land.
We'd play for hours in the pool. When we were sunburnt, we were told to come inside. We'd pretend we were two orphans tricked into being servants in the palace of an evil wizard. We would spend the afternoon plotting ways to escape and building forts and making costumes out of bedsheets and towels.
Imagination was no problem. It was easy to point, pretend, and believe.
I've resorted to facebook, youtube and going to the movies when I'm bored. When I hang out with friends, we talk, eat, and watch movies. I have to remind myself to exercise my imagination.
My creativity.
I know I'm supposed to grow up, I'm not regretting the loss of my innocent, make-believe days. I embrace them, and I embrace who I am. I've just begun to realize that imagination is what separates me from everyone else. What separates humankind from the animals. It is a privilege to have a creative mind. We've come dangerously close to sacrificing it altogether.
To embrace the privilege of creative expression is consistent with being made in the image and likeness of our Creator. God's a Creator. His children should bear his likeness, which means they should be creative.
I got stuck in a pattern and made myself believe I was obligated to follow it. I stopped being creative. I stopped trying things. Then one sunny day, I decided to take a nap on top of my car. Then another day, I scaled the stone wall up to my balcony. I had to climb back down by tying my scarf to one of the poles. And now I have scratches and scars on my hands and feet. I took a walk through the desert. I picked wildflowers. I wrote a short story with way too many adjectives. I spent some time alone. I climbed on top of my roof and watched the sunset do a magic trick. I read two books in five days. You know, just to get myself back into the swing of things.
Sometimes I want to rip the power cord out of my computer and throw the whole blasted thing out the window. Maybe one day.
In the long run, I'd really like a peaceful life. Yes, I want to live in the big city in a tiny, single-room apartment over a general store and work my way through college as a starving artist, yes. I want that very much indeed. But in my heart of hearts, what I really want is a cottage in New Zealand. Or the English countryside. A place to do things the slow way. A nice, green place to do things the slow way. Yes, I'd like that very much indeed.