Imagination

In J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" Peter, in my opinion is a symbol of innocence and the generous but cruel nature of a child. After reading this book, I began to slip away into my childhood memories and thinking to myself: "Where did all of that go?" I still remember sitting in the back of my mothers car looking up at the clouds and making out hundreds of shapes in them as I wondered what they were talking about. I dreamed of flying to them and having conversations with the clouds. So, If I could reclaim anything from my childhood, it would be the simple beauty and freedom of imagination.

If you think about it, "catch" is a rather dull game. Or, at least the concept of it is.
But, to a child, the simple act of throwing a ball back and forth is so powerful and exhilarating that when I had my first baseball glove, I couldn't think of anything more joyous in life. I also remember walking across the school playground and another little boy roughly poking my shoulder and screaming "Tag!" This provided hours of fun as we chased and "tagged" eachother all around the playground. This same boy and I continued to have many make believe adventures that involved robots, pirates, dinosaurs, aliens, and many other fun things of that sort.

But the sad thing is that people grow out of this. They stop playing "tag" and they forget how much fun "catch" is and they stop having make believe adventures because as they grow, they lose sight of it all and they don't see a point in it anymore. Just as Wendy from "Peter Pan." As she grew up, she forgot how to fly and eventually, She began to doubt that she ever flew at all. In time, she stopped believing that Peter even existed. But, if you ask me, even if it was all in her imagination, she flew. Just as when I was a kid I would run to the swings and swing as high as I could trying to reach the clouds.

So, maybe this is what you were hoping to read, maybe it isn't. But, if anything, I hope I have encouraged you to think back to your childhood memories and embrace them. Life is too short to not enjoy the simple joy of imagination. So, go play "catch!" Go play "tag!" Go have a make believe adventure! You'll remember what it's like to be a child. So careless and free. I know I do. And you can still catch me on the swing sets trying to reach the clouds.