“Mommy, I see a mouse riding on a unicorn!”
“Mommy, I see a bear pushing a box!”
“Mommy, I see an angel fish swimming in the clouds!”
“Mommy, I see smoke coming from a car!”
All these descriptions came from the mouth of kids, bursting with imagination and wonder, just by looking at the clouds in the sky, while driving on a beautiful sunny day. I am always excited to be a part of it. Most days I grin ear-to-ear because, I want to stay in those moments forever and, imagine right along with them. I hope my kids continue to exercise their imagination for the rest of their life, because at some point, after we reach adulthood, we lose our imagination or enter denial from time to time.
When my kids were toddlers, I remember feeling self-conscious using my imagination to make up silly stories to keep them entertained while shopping in the grocery store. Imagining and playing seemed silly and childlike to me. It’s not cool to be told you act like a child in adult situations. Kids teach us all how to keep our imagination alive. All we have to do is watch them closely.
What is imagination exactly? Can it really be defined? The dictionary says it’s the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses and the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful. The imagination is our natural gift and a tool that should be improved, maintained and practiced. Our imagination is the portal that allows us to create what we want in life.
From imagination we’ve gained inventors, movie directors, authors, doctors, engineers and scientist because they dared to imagine. Most parents fork out thousands of dollars to take their kids to the ultimate place of imagination in Florida or California. Walt Disney imagined it to be called Disney World and Disneyland.
So when I can, even though I hold a serious poker face of calm, I forget about being a grownup and get a little silly with my kids to exercise my imagination (even if it’s only a few minutes). It’s the one tool I have I can use to create what I want for my life.
So go ahead and get silly and see what you can imagine. Be that kid again, only for a moment…
©2016 by Allura Eshmun