Daydreaming or Imagining, How Unicorns Can Help.
Did you know unicorns sleepwalk, sleepfly, and sleephear? I didn’t either until visiting with my 7-year-old granddaughter.
“Oma, do you want to play?”
“Sure, what shall we play?”
I was given total instructions of what unicorns can and cannot do. For example, their special hearing allows them to understand a voicemail even when they are asleep.
The mind of a child, with no limitations, no restrictions, just total imagination. Spending time with her enveloped me in a wave of nostalgia. I reflected on the days when I was very young and fairies, wizards, princesses, and unicorns propelled my world from adventure to adventure, dream to dream. And how wonderful that world was, one in which you had no fears. Isn’t that the ultimate childhood? To explore the cosmos in your starship, the oceans in your pirate sloop, or the winds in your hot-air balloon.
Somewhere along the way, perhaps we lose this sense of play. Why can’t unicorns sleepfly? When does the tsunami of reality crash in and diminish us from the magnificent, wonderful, and glorious that leaves a world of real, serious “things”. Today I wonder how parents can ensure that school doesn’t become just a necessary step to college but leaves room for an exciting opening to a vast array of subjects like music, history, and science. Does sports morph into a contest of ‘beating’ an opponent and everyone getting a ribbon rather than learning what it is to be on a team or how to get up after defeat? With so many after-school activities, is there time to just hang out and play?
The power of imagination enables us to create inventions for everyday use and for our very survival of life. It is incredible to think about what didn’t exist ten years ago and what we deem now as indispensable. What did we do before GPS, cellphones, and instant messaging for emergencies? The advances in medicine especially in the fields of cancer and prosthetics have prolonged and enabled a more full life?
My granddaughter opened up a window to this wonderful world. She touched me deep inside to think, why can’t we dream of a world of peace? Of plenty for everyone? Once we again remember how to imagine the impossible, it can become I’m possible. The next time you daydream at work or anywhere… your idea may be envied for what you dreamed up or just feel terrific for visiting a distant shore.
Do you remember the song from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, “Pure Imagination?” Take a moment and listen to this version by Josh Groban and let your mind travel in a world of your own creation.
Link for Pure Imagination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOfagBBxrfs