I have this idea that towards adulthood, our understanding of the world crystallises and is ordered and systematised. It becomes increasingly difficult to bridge between these organisational systems or grasp new concepts.
A child’s mind, on the other hand, where some order may exist, is a much more fluid thing. I still remember vividly believing in bizarre things and concepts, I didn’t know where reality ended and imagination began.
I have an older sister in particular who filled my early years with a fantastic parallel world, where I was frequently a visitor. Apparently my eye colour didn’t allow me to see this other dimension, non-the-less I distinctly remember sharp images that my mind must have conjured up in those many, many excursions.
When we were becoming women, it was really, really hard to let this world go. I think we both knew it broke our hold onto childhood, and memories of our final acknowledgment that it wasn’t real still upsets me to this day!
Perhaps when we are old, these barriers between reality and the imagination will break down to become elastic once more, and we will sit on the magic carpet as we did as children, determined to discover the master’s word to make it fly.
meandertect 