Do you remember your childhood days? Do you remember what it felt like to daydream? Do you remember how natural and easy it was to play? Do you remember how your imagination would bring you to places beyond the known world? Do you remember the time when you believed in your dreams, imaginary friends and secretly wondered if a giant actually did live in a castle built in the clouds? Did you believe in fairies, dragons, elves that played in the forest, the troll that lived under the bridge and leprechauns that guarded the treasure at the end of the rainbow? Do you remember wondering where the end of the rainbow actually was? And do you remember wishing you had wings to fly there, picturing yourself soaring with the birds and sliding down that rainbow into the pot of gold itself? Do you remember how magical everything appeared to your senses? Nothing seemed to be beyond the realm of possibility. Do you remember what it felt like in the days when you allowed yourself to play in these magical worlds?
Take a minute to recall some of these special moments from your own childhood days. While you are there, visiting these memories, please don’t judge them to be silly or ridiculous or any of the “Grown Up” titles that we tend to put onto the imaginary world of children. Try only to remember what you felt like, way back then. Try to recall that feeling of magic and endless possibility that lived in your heart. Let yourself sense the wonder and excitement of whatever memory comes back to you. No justification, no judgment, just be there, feel it. Give yourself about 20 minutes or so to contemplate this notion. Let yourself plunge entirely into the waters of pure blissful childhood imagination. Be there. Then, when you are ready, gradually bring yourself back to the present moment and write a note about what you experienced and how you felt.
Imagination, inspiration, where did the magic go? Life has become so serious for most of us. We have forgotten how to play, imagine, dream. At least I know that I have, for the most part. But the time has come to recapture the magic. Why not believe in fairies, elves and the castle in the clouds? It really doesn’t hurt anyone and as a bonus, it can add a little element of intrigue and delight into the day. Besides, how do you know they are not real? We cannot always trust our eyes to tell us what is real…Perhaps…Who knows for sure?
If you have trouble recalling the magical feeling from those childhood days, I suggest renting a movie that you used to love watching as a very young child. For me that movie is The Wizard of Oz. Wow, does that bring me back, in a heartbeat. But the same thing happens when I watch Mary Poppins with my own kids, and I never actually watched that movie as a child. If you cannot recall your favorite childhood movie, then go ahead, give Mary Poppins a try. See what happens. Or more accurately, I guess I should say, “Feel what happens”.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to live in this world as a fully functioning, responsible adult but with the added bonus of the active imagination, daydreams and pure wonder of a child? If this is not pure inspiration, then I do not know what is. That’s all from me for now. I am off to play; first with my kids, and then with my paint. Who knows what will happen from there.
For this particular blog entry I felt inspired to include a quote from one of the great “Daydreamers” of our times. But in searching for the “one” that felt just right, I was flooded with inspiration by so many. I could not seem to narrow it down to just one. So instead I have included five.
“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.”
Elizabeth Lawrence
“I am enough of an artist to draw feely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Albert Einstein
“I think there’s a little child in all of us and we all too often forget to let the child out to play.”
Donna A. Favors
“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night”
Edgar Allan Poe
“You see things; and you say, Why? But I dream things that never were; and I say, Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT, SHARE A DAYDREAM OR PASS ON SOME OF YOUR OWN INSPIRATION
All the Best to you
Pam
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