This is a picture I took a few days ago of my backyard. When I was little, during the summer I would sit under our grape vines, which you can see hanging in this picture, and I would stare at our neighbor's ivy covered shed.
I always thought the shed looked out of place so. It had this mysterious quality to it that always left me in awe. The shed was like my wardrobe for the kids in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
Anyhow, I would sit in the backyard on nice, warm summer days and let my imagination run wild. I made up this on going story that this shed was actually somewhere near the Mediterranean and it belonged to a family of farmers. Eventually I created characters, but I never gave them names for some reason. I guess my 8 year-old self couldn't handle making up names?
I always used to write stories when I was little but when I got to high school I stopped. Like I mentioned before, I took this picture a few days ago. I found myself once again transfixed on the shed and then nostalgia washed over me. I suddenly missed making up those stories. When I was younger my imagination was always working over time. I had such a sense a sense of wonder and I'm afraid cynicism has be slowly taking over.
I admire creative people like Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton,J.K. Rowling etc... who have been able to create their own worlds and stories and share them with everyone else. I find that to be a beautiful gift to have.
Maybe I should start writing stories again. I'm don't think I'll be sharing them with anyone anytime soon, but, maybe it'll help melt the cynicism away. I need a different perspective of the world I live in and maybe I can get a visit from my 8 year-old self to help me with that.
Well kids, I hope you've been having good summers so far. Hope to be talking to you soon. Until then I'll leave you with this:
"The key to life is imagination. If you don't have that, no mater what you have, it's meaningless. If you do have imagination...you can make a feast of straw."- Jane Stanton Hitchcock
-Catherine
