Blogtober Day 28: Imagination

Growing up, I was taught various virtues of the sort I'm sure every child is introduced to.

Kindness, Patience, Cleanliness, Honesty, etc.

I've always thought we were missing one that is all too important to children and adults alike.

Imagination

It is easy enough to maintain when you are young.  I remember spending countless hours building forts that were really palaces, and traversing jungles that sprouted up in my backyard.  I had my own little dreamworld that I visited constantly.  That dreamworld was as real to me as anything else.

Now that I'm older, I forget how long it has been since I visited.  A fact that saddens me.

I understand that, as we get older, reality offers more pressing needs than those dreamworlds.  But do we have to forsake them all together? 

One night, months ago, when my depression was hitting me hard, my husband wrapped me up in a blanket, held me tight, and asked what he could do.  The first thing I blurted out desperately was, "tell me something happy."

Then we escaped together, he and I.  Just for a few minutes.  Suddenly we had a big, beautiful house.  I wish you could have seen it.  It was everything we dreamed of.  Lots of windows, too.  Green yard, lots of flowers.  We had a few children running around, each a better reflection of us, with smiles and laughs that spread easily.  There was a room tucked away with all kinds of pretty things to look at, and a typewriter.  I could stow away there are write all day if I wanted to.  We had food to eat, and pretty clothes, and our children attended Hogwarts.

Maybe it sounds silly, but as Josh painted that picture for me, everything made sense again.  It isn't that I forgot what made me sad in the first place.  It is that I remembered how to make myself happy.

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.
-Henry David Thoreau

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
-Mark Twain

An idea is salvation by imagination.
-Frank Lloyd Wright

Of course it is happening inside your head... but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?
-J.K. Rowling

He's Harry Freakin' Potter

I'd like to take a moment and dive headfirst into what is probably my most ardent obsession:

Harry Potter.

I could probably devote a separate blog to this phenomenon by itself, but for now, this will have to do.

Harry Potter was my childhood.  The characters were so real to me, Hogwarts was never a place of fantasy in my mind, and the existence of magic was never something I questioned.  As an adult, I still feel very much the same.  Of course, I now know that hanging out at King's Cross station will not guarantee a run-in with an actual wizard-in-training.  I understand that as many times as I look it up on Google Maps, the location of Hogwarts will not be revealed to me.  However, I am convinced that magic is real, although perhaps not in the manner it is written about in books.

I believe that magic is an untouchable quality within each of us that enables us to do incredible things.  Maybe things that we were told couldn't be done.  Things we tell ourselves we will never do.  Even things that never occurred to anyone, but take place all the same.  Impossible things happen all the time.

As my son grows older, it is so important to me that he grows up with a rampant imagination, and a healthy belief in things most grown-ups will tell him are only make-believe.

Please don't mistake my views as childish or naive.  I have experienced reality, and live a part of this world as much as anyone else.  I also believe in rational decisions, and keeping a clean house.  I believe in working a job I don't like to help support my family, and I believe in education very much.  I just don't understand why or when it was decided that believing in fantastic things is a useless endeavor.

But back to my dear Harry.

Now as splendid as the movies are, I am first and foremost a fan of the books (which are better than the movies, as books do tend to be) being as they were my first introduction to the wizarding world.  So please keep in mind that if you read parts of this post that sound unfamiliar, run to the nearest bookstore near you and educate yourself.

Joanne Rowling (fondly known as J.K. Rowling) set out to write a series of "children's" books.  At least, that is what her publishers assumed after the first installment.  However, these books proceeded down a much darker, more adult path.  They needed to.  Even in tales of magic and enchantment, there must be a rationality within.  Things have to make sense. 

And we are dealing with issues not all grown-ups I know can wrap their head around.  Abuse, racism, sexism, prejudices of all kinds, war, death, sacrifice, the fickleness of fame, mental health, inner demons, competition, evil, remorse, temptation, selfless love...

There is a depth in the Harry Potter books that I believe will never be seen again.

Because after a childhood of abuse and neglect, after experiencing so much death and turmoil, did we really expect Harry to persist with a smile on his face?  He had every right be get angry every now and then.  And Ron? What normal teenage boy would not have jealousy issues with a famous friend?  I probably would have left too if I had been camping for months without progress.  Hermione?  Is it so surprising she struggles with self esteem, that she is always looking to prove herself?  It takes some time for her to grow into the self assured, no-nonsense heroine we all love in the end.

Even the most seemingly irrelevant characters contribute so much to the story.  Madame Pomfrey, for example.  Can we all take a moment to appreciate how awesome she is?  The castle can come under attack, students can lose bones, become petrified, drink a botched potion, and she keeps a level head and takes care of it.  No complaints, so questions asked.  Pomfrey is a boss. 

I can revisit these books over and over again and take away something new.  Every time.

Also, Voldemort's progression as a villain is this beautiful tragedy.  He was basically raised in similar conditions to Harry, and yet, his humanity was more of a hindrance than a help.  Evil is ultimately a choice we make for ourselves.  To use our situations to drive us to both extremes.

We see examples of how acutely choices affect our character, literally, everywhere in these books.  Another example is the Malfoy family and the Weasley family.  Both pureblood, but separated by class.  The Malfoys being very wealthy, and of course, the Weasleys being quite poor.  And yet... who do we love more?  Arthur and Molly chose to keep love over status within their home.  Something we can learn from.  What's really important?  Happiness or money?

I could go on and on.  Guaranteed, there will be more posts about the miracle that is Harry Potter.  For today, let's all take a moment to appreciate the boy who will always live.

"No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever, so whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home"
J.K. Rowling