Dear People,

Blood trickled down the man’s face. The blow had sent him spiraling down the staircase. The castle walls shook as he slammed into the wall at the end of the stairs. He only had a short amount of time until his enemy was upon him. He was able to dodge the incoming assault as the creature tried to stab him with its long sharp tail. He managed to recover his dual swords and get to his feet. Shaking, he steadied himself and prepared to attack. In a flash of lightning he sprinted at the creature, swords in hand, prepared to sacrifice everything… Pretty cool, huh? I just made all of that up from the top of my head. It was generated from my ultimate escape, my ultimate weapon. The thing that makes me “me” more than anything else in this entire world. Something I’ve always depended on. Something I’ve always had. Something I’ve always carried. My imagination.

Ever since I was a young child I’ve had a strong imagination. My kindergarten teachers would worry and they would say things like, “he’s lost in his own world”, or “he doesn’t even pay attention”. It’s true I mostly didn’t. But it’s never true that I didn’t want to pay attention. I just couldn’t help it. Something would catch my eye like a picture of a spider and I would think of the magic school bus episode I had just watched about arachnids. Suddenly my thoughts would be flooded with huge towering spiders crawling through my neighborhood. Naturally, I would fend them off with wands and swords. Then I would imagine how my family would react to countless possibilities of  arachnids terrorizing my neighborhood. It’s almost accurate to say I get caught up in my own fantasies. After getting lost in my imagination the teacher would ask me something or try capture my attention, only to find me unresponsive and quite possibly drooling.Eventually she would capture my focus and somewhat kindly remind me to pay more attention. After all, I was only in kindergarten. She wouldn’t say much to my face but I could hear her whispering to my mom about her worries.

You may be asking yourself,  “why does he have such a strong imagination?” “Where does it come from?” “Did something happen to make him so caught up in his own head?” Well, I’ve definitely always carried a strong imagination. But, there were things in my childhood that made me especially prone to get caught up in my head. You see, my mom had an off and on relationship with this man for three years. When I first met him, I liked him. He appeared intelligent, kind, and even compassionate. He made my sisters and I a tree house and took us to movies. I was only around six at the time and I trusted him. But then I got to truly know him. His strict attitude and his unrelenting need to control things. His crooked nose, sharp blue eyes, and spiked hair suddenly went from an easy going nice-guy look, to hawkish and aggressive. Then came the night where I experienced  true fear for the first time. A night that still haunts my mind and plagues my dreams to this day. There was screaming and sounds of broken glass echoing in my ears as my sisters and I huddled in our basement. “Help me, he’s hurting me!”, my mother screamed from upstairs. I took a step forward when my elder sister stopped me, holding me back. Not knowing what to do I closed my eyes and imagined a better, safer place. That’s the first time I truly used my precious gift to escape the terrors of reality.

Just in case you’re wondering, everything turned out okay as the cops showed up. I’m not sure what really went down that night but it wasn’t enough for their relationship to end. The continuation of their relationship allowed me to hone my imagination into a true awesome power. For the most part, there was peace. But then, much like a storm approaching in the way you can see it coming, there would be another violent confrontation. They eventually broke up for good when I was eight or nine, and by that time I was left with the ability to escape reality upon will. Not only their fights made my imagination stronger but there was a time when we were living with him, that we lived in what could be considered poverty. During this period of time we lived in a RV at a campsite. This meant I had no cable or any technological entertainment. Instead, I read, and played games outside with my sisters. We made up all kinds of imaginary games that my current generation probably never engaged in. In one particular game we all had a special animal that we could turn into. We had powers and magical staffs that helped us conquer our territories and domains. From there, we developed our own armies and had group competitions to see who made the better kingdom. All of this took place in our backyard which consisted of an entire campsite. It was full of jagged rocks onlooking the lake and gravel paths intertwined with various paths leading to amazing places. If anything could spur your imagination at a young age, it was that place.

Today, all is well. My mom has been married to the nicest man I’ve ever known for seven years now. They have a child of their own and we never talk about those dark days with that other man. I’ve always had a strong imagination but those years helped me hone the ability to truly get lost in a fantasy world of my making. Even today, I get caught up in my head and I lose myself. Some people would say that’s a bad thing and they may be right. But eventually, I always face reality and often times it’s my imagination that helps me cope and move forward. You see, sometimes the things you carry are always with you but they can grow heavier. Those dark years of my younger life made my imagination grow heavier, and transform into something that is a truly useful thing that I carry today.

“How might that be useful?”, you may ask. Well, allow me to explain. Well for one thing, with a large imagination I never get really get bored. I always find something to think about. After I read books or watch movies I can continue them in my head and make up new stories of my own. A large imagination allows me to have original and creative ideas that my peers and friends may not think of. My imagination is also one of my safest places. No matter how bad things may get physically or emotionally, no one can take it away from me. Therefore, I will  always be able to escape and live in a world that I created. In simplest terms, humans create. I’m not very religious but creationists say that God created man in his own image. If that’s true then humans were meant to create because the ultimate creator is a creator himself. Where does creation come from? Well, it starts with an idea. An idea taken from your mind. An idea taken from your imagination. After all wasn’t it Einstein who said  “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” That’s what’s unique about the thing I carry. Everyone else carries it as well. It’s up to the you,  to control how much you may use it. But in my humble opinion, imagination is the greatest gift humanity has ever received and the greatest thing I carry.

From my Imagination to Yours.