Crazy Little Thing Called Imagination...

I started the day like any other. I groggily got up, mumbled about waking up, got ready and drove off to school. As soon as I arrived I went toward my English class, plopping myself down on my regular seat and getting ready to tune out the speeches that we were presenting (Don't worry I have the feeling that many are going to do the same thing with my speech). As the first presenter arose to deliver her well thought out speech I was already acting as though I had headphones on listening to music instead of her. Then came her opening sentence:

"Once upon a time, wait that's not right. How about in a Galaxy far far away, wait no, that's no good either. I got it: In a land far far away..." and she continued from there, explaining to us that reality is different from the fantasy that are expressed through movies and stories and anything else that leaked out, maybe even through a blog.

I got me thinking: yeah, fantasy and reality are different and should be treated as such, so no argument there. Then came the harsh tone from her mouth: "Grow up, there's no such thing as a happy ending."

I pretty much screeched to a halt there.

Yes, happy endings with fairy tale stories in which damsels in distress is far from reality. I myself can testify for that. But the way that she was explaining this point of view kind of threw me off guard, telling us to grow up and stop having companies like Disney and many others stop spewing the happiness and morals that it teaches us, especially if it is in the form of fantasy. To tell us to grow up is the same as telling us to get over the fact that your pet turtle died.

What also "grinded my gears" as Peter Griffin would say was that she expected us, college students, to still be this way: forever pining for that prince charming, forever searching for the fallen beauty. It's as if she expected us to combat the fire breathing dragons to get to the fairest maiden in the land or wait for true love's first kiss. I don't know much about many of you in the world, but the closest I have gotten to dragons are the lizards that hide from me when I come across them. As for true love's kiss... yeah.

The other thing that got me a bit peeved was how she was comparing the cult classic The Little Mermaid, to something that we are looking for. A young mermaid whose father told her to stay away from humans, even though she fell in love with one. It's edgy, rebellious, and a classic fairy tale come true with the help of a talking crab. I don't know any talking crabs personally but I loved that movie when I was 5 years old, and still love it to this day. I am not looking for a talking crab anytime soon, and humans are my race so I think I'm in the clear. And it's not just the whole becoming human and living happily ever after that goes behind this movie. If one looks between the lines, you can see the relationships that are placed between a father and daughter, how friends are always there for you when one needs them, and yes of course falling in love.

Now here is the real question that I have for any of you guys that are thinking "this girl had a point." Let me first say that this person is a friend of mine so I hold nothing against her personally, just wanted my point to be put forward without any arguments in the process, because I could rant about this all day long.

Onto the question: How can you as a person, parent, sibling, family member or just a friend tell a child in the same tone and indifference to grow up because what you see in the movies will never come true? How can look into a child's eyes and say stop believing in that fairy tale junk? It would be the same as telling them to grow up and stop believing in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and any other fairy tale creature.

They are kids! They don't need to hold an aspect onto a perspective of reality, when fantasy is what is forming in their minds between the ages of 3 through possibly ten years old, or maybe longer. I am not saying to tell children to keep up the erroneous fantasy of waiting for true love or something like that. I am just trying to show the emphasis of the freedom and escape of reality by indulging ourselves in a fantasy that can be as crazy as being a mermaid, to a boy fighting dragons... or zombies for that matter. I am trying to show how many people are trying to have their child grow up at such a young age, when in truth they have the rest of their lives to grow up.

Take a chapter out of Peter Pan's book. Don't hurry your children to grow up, keep them indulged in the realms of fantasy for as long as you can, because if you don't you will see them grow too quickly to even appreciate all their childhood dreams. With all the promotions that are going on in life and pressures such as sex, drugs and many other dangerous vices, it is good to escape reality from time to time. Let your imagination take you where you want to go or have it cradle you and let you be who you want to be, and do the same with your child.