Last weekend I was visiting with a friend in her front yard, and as we talked I watched the neighborhood kids playing outside. Aside from being thrilled that they could actually be outside without being in danger of frostbite within ten seconds, they were so full of fun and energy I found myself a little jealous. I mean, no one I know has time for anything right now, and as for the energy, well most people I know are walking around a bit like zombies. Mostly zombies ready for the dirty, cold, pitiful end-of-wintertime to head on out the door already.
I found myself a little jealous of the playing kids for another reason, too. They were running around yards, up and down snow drifts, playing with shovels and sticks and brooms, and anything else they could get their hands on. One boy had tied a black trash bag to the hood of his sweatshirt to make a cape. Though he was old enough to know what make-believe is, I have no doubt that if I would have walked up to him at that very moment and asked him if he could fly, he would have said yes. Because at that moment, on that pile of snow, with all the sun and the fun and the screaming (oh my heck, the screaming), he could fly. That’s the feeling I got from all of them; those brooms and sticks and shovels were something else entirely, because that’s what they’d imagined.
As adults with mortgages and oil changes and the responsibility of other lives on our plates, we don’t get to imagine much, if at all. It’s understandable. There are more important things to worry about. There’s no time to argue or decide if they’re really important, because they just are. What I wish we wouldn’t miss, what I wouldn’t miss, is the power we have adults to not only imagine, but to do something about it. After all, the real truth is, we are not lacking in imagination. I, for one, know I imagine things all the time: the house cleaning itself, the article writing itself, the homework being turned in all by itself. There is no shortage of that. It’s just sometimes I miss the message and the value in that message that I can actually do something about it.
Not that I’m motivated by that, even as I type. I probably should stop imagining this toilet-scrubbing fairy that’s going to appear any minute. But then I think, why? Or, more accurately, why not? Why not keep imagining? Why not think about all the things that could be different, or better or more fun? Why not believe in some ways, you actually can fly?
Though I’m not sure where this came from, I have to believe it’s been sitting in my head somewhere over the last week because by all of my own doing, I have been drowning. Work, check. School, check. Family, check. Friends, check. Making plans and/or solving problems with said family and friends, CHECK. But somewhere in this mess, I’ve managed to move some retirement money into an account where it will be gaining double the interest it was*, to lose a few pounds**, and to finish all of this work long enough to leave it all behind this weekend to go run my share of 182 miles. I can’t retire just yet, I still feel like my favorite jeans are a bit too tight, and I have not yet crossed the finish line, but if I really use my imagination, I am getting there.
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*Remind me to rant on someday about how women should really learn to take control of their money. It has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. It’s in my top 3.
**Remind me go on and on someday about how ironic it is to have relatively quick success with a weight loss program you used to roll your eyes at.
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(PRE-) WEEKEND BONUS PICS
(If you’re cold and tired of it, sometimes this helps me.)
brandy says:
Sigh. Your pictures just kill me. I look at them and love them but at the same time feel extreme sadness that the only thing that I see that is such a nice blue is a crayola marker.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
brandy says:
And I realize i didn’t really comment on your post, but those pictures sort of took up the most space in my brain.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
brandy says:
Sometimes what I’m thinking is a lot smarter than what I’m saying.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Jen says:
I am constantly day-dreaming and imagining things, to the point I sometimes think people in the street think I’m crazy. But then again, this is NYC, everyone is a little bit crazy.
Those pictures are amazing!
February 27th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Bre says:
If you do find the toilet scrubbing fairy, can you PLEASE send them to me?
My college students are young and carefree and often I think about what it would be like to be there. Fortunately, they’re usually stupid too, and I don’t want to be that.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Danielle says:
Ah, turquoise water…I want to be there…have fun with the relay!! I just agreed to do my first relay this summer and am psyched about it.
As for the imagination…you know…that’s my run time. During runs I sometimes have conversations with people to resolve things, sometimes I write papers or essays (working on that now) but sometimes, just sometimes, I imagine myself somewhere else, having something else going on, I’m embarrassed to say what they are, but it’s fun and I hate to reach the end of my run somedays due to the loss then of the fantasy!!
February 28th, 2008 at 6:32 am
girlgoyle says:
I’m undecided on wether the pics do help my winter blues. And though I normally am psyched to see snow and enjoy some mountain time this year….I don’t know about this year…..I just can’t seem to shake the cold! Ugh!
February 28th, 2008 at 8:06 am
backofpack says:
Children are truly amazing. I watched a Mom and child walk into preschool the other day, holding hands. Mom’s head was down, apparently deep in thought, and the child dangling off her hand was hopping and skipping and waving to me and laughing. All in a simple one minute walk from car to door. I immediately wondered why it is that we lose that goofy ability to just be joyous and have fun.
Congrats on all the ** stuff!
February 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am
JACC says:
I got the number for a toilet-scrubbing fairy last night and apparently she brings another fairy that cleans the floors at the same time.
Dreams can come true.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:10 am
The Exception says:
It is sad when adults forget to use their imaginations or even when they forget how to play… and it happens so often. We are too busy to play, to laugh and enjoy being a kid at heart.
I found myself doing cartwheels the other day in a parking lot. The day was beautiful and the Diva wanted to do them… so I did them too.
This morning, due to the bitter whether outside, I told my ski bunny (shades, hat, and all) to prepare to ski down the hill (stairs). We assumed the position, planted our poles… and walked down the stairs.
Sometimes it is fun to laugh and pretend, to suspend reality… if only for a minute.
It is difficult enough for kids these days to live and play and have little stress. Why not encourage them by playing and imagining ourselves, from time to time?
February 28th, 2008 at 10:40 am
anne says:
Good job! I am not in love with the program but it doesn’t help that I fall off the wagon on Friday and Saturday nights either.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Cat Chaser says:
Great pics, wish I could get away, oh wait, may be I will!
February 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
MN Sunshine says:
OH! The pictures invited me to take such a refreshing deep breath! Thank you.
Found this greeting card:
“I believe you should live each day as if it were your last, which is why my house is a mess……..
I mean, really, who wants to clean house on the last day of her life?”
(www.artiststowatch.com)
February 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
brookem says:
First of all- I love that you left us with those pictures! Because they are so, so beautiful, and take me to a place of imagination- just what you were talking about! What a great post, my friend.
Oh, and I will remind you to talk about quick success with a weight loss program!
February 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
barbara bruederlin says:
Sometimes I think I am guilty of spending a little too much time with my imagination, but next time someone bugs me about it, I’ll just tell them that Justrun says it’s okay so bugger off.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
sizzle says:
Love the pics. I want to be drifting aimlessly on the water right about now without any adult cares in the world battering me down, down, down.
Good luck on the race this weekend!
February 28th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Essentially Me says:
Ohhh those pictures. Just perfect. Sigh. Need summer to be here now.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Nicole says:
thanks for the pics - its just what I needed.
March 1st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Dawn says:
That’s good, and I do need to get better about my money. I just put it in my 403(b) and forget about it.
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:02 am
Ginger Breadman says:
you mean . . . the toilet fairy isn’t coming? but I thought if I just believed . . .
I loved your post. It made me laugh and made me stop and think and remember to stop and laugh.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:32 am
Joe says:
Nice post! If you want to feel like you are actually doing something about all of the things you imagine, here’s a fun little trick. Just as you are drifting off to sleep, imagine those things. You’d be surprised how often you end up having wonderful dreams about those things while you are sleeping. By the time you wake up, you might have even gained a few insights into how you might be able to turn those dreams into reality. That’s how I come up with some of my best ideas. Yeah, it’s weird and “cosmic”, I know. But it works.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
kurt says:
how was the relay race? your blog is inspiring
March 4th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Robb says:
I get you and the thing about kids. And, when you have a few kids of your own you will be forever transformed to the good x 10. Your imagination will come back to you. Just wait and see if I’m right.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:26 pm