Dream on!

Logic will get you from A to B.  Imagination will take you everywhere.

~Albert Einstein

 Americans do not play very well, in my opinion.  For us it is all about competition and winning.  A popular bumper sticker these days states, "He who dies with the most toys wins!"  Really? What happened with play for play's sake?

I do not remember when or where I got the little elephant on which I’m focusing today.  But I do remember why!  No one gave it to me.  I had to get it for myself simply because of the memories it brought to my mind.  This little elephant is one of many stuffed elephants I have.  It’s not in mint condition; there is a stain behind its right ear and one under its tail (who knows what that’s about!)


Whenever I look at this humble elephant, I don't see the flaws of a second-hand toy elephant; I see a very special place in my childhood.  I had one just like it as a child.  It was part of a set of small stuffed animals that I kept for several years.  My dad made a little shelf that fit in one of the corners of my bedroom – and I set these small animals on that shelf.  Being somewhat obsessive-compulsive, each of them, of course, had its own place.

These were the characters of many stories I created behind my bedroom’s closed door.  It was a favorite pastime for me, when I was 9 or 10…each animal had a name and a unique role. Sadly, memory being what it is, I don’t remember the names of any of them except that of “Amos” who was the wise king – and he was not one of the set but a frog-shaped ceramic “piggy” bank! How that I came about, I don’t know! But every time I look at this elephant I think fondly of those little adventures my animals had and the pleasure I took in creating them. 


Imagination was an important part of my childhood, as it should be all childhoods.  As an early childhood teacher I had the privilege of observing young children play. I learned the importance imagination plays in children’s ability to solve problems.  Play is the main vehicle of learning for young children.  During the last couple of years I taught, though, it saddened me to see the nature of children’s dramatic play.  Often it was “re-enactment” of television shows or movies they had watched and it took on a very competitive, aggressive nature.  It was apparent these children spent a lot of time in front of screens – playing video and computer games, watching television, and unfortunately, learning our culture's values: He who dies with the most toys wins.

Solitude can be an important aspect of imagination.  Chunks of solitude can refurbish the soul, allow for “daydreaming”, and provide the mindful atmosphere that fosters creativity.  Most artists, writers, poets, and I bet scientists, too, value their solitary time. 

Imagination can also be fostered in relationships.  In addition to the play with my animals, my brother and various friends and I also had a number of imaginative play “themes” that we enacted over and over.  Couches became boats; jungle gyms were fairies’ roosts.  Gates became the boundaries between magical lands of fairies, elves and witches, and that was just the beginning. 

Without the imaginative power of our greatest scientists and artists, our world would be so much poorer -- think of a world without the Sistine Chapel, or science without the theory of relativity. Albert Einstein obviously believed in the magic of imagination (see quote above).  If you look carefully at the word imagination, you'll see magic. 

I’m so glad I got this little elephant.  It's a great reminder of the magic of childhood. Who says it has to end?   Who wants to die with the most toys?  I'll take dreams instead. Toys stay here, our soul moves on, and dreams are the sustenance of the soul.