I used to play by myself a lot as a kid.
I have siblings, but my family was just so complicated growing up that I usually ended up playing alone with nothing but my toys and my imagination. The living room of that house on Floral Avenue was my workshop, my playpen, my creative inspiration. The couch was a massive cliff which no man had ever summitted until Buzz Lightyear soared from its high plateau one fateful Christmas morning. The rocking chair over by the window was an ever-shifting launching point for the Hot Wheelz Grand Prix. The giant dirt mound in our backyard was the perfect place for my Tonka trucks to excavate.
Even when I didn’t have my toys, my imagination ran wild. I’d drape my bedsheet around my shoulders and jump from exceedingly higher elevations, pretending to fly. One summer, I kicked the glass out of our front door trying to do a backflip because ninjas could do backflips and I was a ninja. For some reason, my mom didn’t follow my logic.
What I’m trying to say is that you could have given me a cardboard box, a bouncy ball, and some string, and my imagination would have kept me occupied for a whole weekend.
Imagination is more than something that runs rampant in the absence of structure. It is closely related to creativity and curiosity. It is the choice to think. Regardless of your creative background, whether you grew up the daughter of a farmer or the son of a schoolteacher, you were built by God to imagine, to dream, to wonder.
At some point in our maturation process, we are reconditioned to believe that imagination is for kids, that it isn’t okay for adults to have dreams. When you grow up, you need to face the concrete reality of the world. Look at things how they are. Our world is one of numbers and cold, hard facts, and taxes are due on April 15th.
Of course, get your taxes done on time. Don’t commit a federal crime on account of me, but the point still stands. Our world is so much more than the monotony of a nine-to-five. Imagination is not only healthy, it is necessary for us in every step of our journey. It is not limited to Stephen King, C.S. Lewis, and Vincent Van Gogh. It is a crucial piece of problem-solving. When we ignore our imagination, we are limiting our ability to process information, to work through difficult situations. We are denying ourselves full access to the human experience.
So dream big. Have ideas. Welcome the seemingly impossible, the absurd, the utterly ridiculous into your life and give it the subtle opportunity of consideration. I think God has a partiality to left fielders because some of His greatest plans in our lives seem to come from there. Rarely does He work in the easily predictable. Our God is amazing. His imagination is so far beyond our finite comprehension—He created giraffes and black holes. Don’t handcuff God’s ability to create in your life by believing in anything less than the infinite possibilities of an unbridled imagination.
Stay Golden,
Noah Huseman
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