Imagination
Imagination was a hallmark of my childhood. My mom liked to regularly remind me just how active mine was. I remember spending my days playing dress up with my brother Reece, as well as the others who would visit our fantasy worlds. My parents would also join in our games to add to our cast of characters. If you ran in to me around town it was not uncommon to be greeted by Peter Pan complete with green tights and a large plastic dagger, or if we were going to a high school football or basketball game, a tiger with whiskers painted on my cheeks and a tail that dragged the ground. I can’t imagine my life without my imagination. To this day it takes very little for me to slip back into the worlds that I create in my mind. When I was a child, my imagination was for me. It gave me a place where I could go to have adventures without leaving the safety of my own home. Today my imagination is just as active but instead of keeping it to myself, I find ways to share it with those around me.
When I was young it was easy to bring people into my fantasy worlds. Kids are supposed to play make-believe and the adults in my life were more than happy to add to my games. As I got older, I started to realize that it wasn’t as cool to pretend anymore. I remember trying to play pirates with one of my friends. He told me that he couldn’t because he didn’t have an imagination anymore. I immediately felt sad for him. I realized that my ability to dream and create things in my brain was unique. I decided in that moment that I would hold onto it. I didn’t want a life void of imagination.
As I continued to grow up, I found new ways to use my imagination. I was dressing up and playing games less because I had less time to play. Instead, I chose creative outlets that allowed me to continue to pretend. I joined drama club and started performing on stage. When I was being a character on stage, I would easily become that person. I would engage my imagination and use it to know how they would act in scripted situations. I would choose the inflection that was needed or the type of motion that I should make by understanding what that person would do in the given situation. I also became my high school’s mascot. I had the privilege of being the first person to be Eddie the Tiger. We had mascots previously, but the suits were old and falling apart. A new suit was purchased, auditions were held, and a name was chosen for the new face of the McClain Tigers. I won the spot and was given the responsibility of crafting Eddie’s persona. The first few times that I wore the suit were a little awkward. I didn’t know who Eddie was, but I soon unleashed my imagination and Eddie was born. He would dance at halftime and would flip over and land on his back. He ran around with children as they pulled his tail, and he would strut everywhere because he knew that the tigers were the best. I soon realized that while I was the person in the costume, Eddie was not Caleb and Caleb was not Eddie. Eddie lived only in my imagination, but the suit gave me a way to bring him to life and share him with hundreds of other people.
Now I am an adult. I have adult things to think about like buying groceries and going to work. Despite maturing, my imagination still plays a critical part in my days. One element of my job is leading groups through team-building experiences. I frequently use fantasy as a tool to help groups engage with activities. I will dress in a suit and wear dark sunglasses as I explain that the group’s mission is to save the world and I have been assigned as the training agent in charge of preparing them for this task, or I will speak with pirate slang as I brief the crew on what sailing tasks we have before us. Using fantasy can help draw in my participants and keep them engaged as they do what otherwise might seem like random, meaningless tasks. I am constantly amazed by how willing people are to use their imaginations when I give them permission to do so. I have seen groups of awkward, reserved people mesh and laugh as they play pretend together. I suspect that for people that don’t regularly use their imaginations it is freeing to have opportunities to do so. It allows them to revisit a simpler time in their lives when they felt safe to not take life so seriously. It allows people to be children again.
Jesus called his disciples to be like little children. In Matthew18:1-5, he tells them that in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven they must become like a child. I suspect that there is more to this passage than simply having an imagination, but I can’t help thinking that being free to dream is part of what Jesus was talking about. When we use our imaginations, we are embracing a gift that God gives us. There is something innocent about engaging with your imagination. When we allow ourselves to dream, we inherently are not taking ourselves too seriously and we are becoming like children again. I believe that this is part of what it means to be like a child.
