Where does your imagination go when you grow old?

Do you remember the days when the backyard was a vast world waiting to be discovered?  It seemed that each day, the backyard was fresh with new creatures to discover and new adventures to embark on. 

Do you remember when your toy box could keep you entertained for hours? Time would fly as you became lost in a story unraveling before your eyes. Barbie and Ken were once again and G.I. Joe the hero. 

Do you remember the magic of winter? I now dread the cold weather but when I was young, the sparkling snow meant the playground was better. 

Do you remember the last few days of school before summer? The sunshine and rays outside the window of a classroom always seemed a misfit pair and clock always dragged on until the final second of the final bell on the final day.

Do you remember the games you would play with your best friend on the weekends? Water fights in the summer, snow forts in the winter, and sleepovers in between. 

Do you remember the day that your backyard lost its intrigue?

Do you remember the last time you opened your dusty old toy box?

Do you remember how to make a snowman?

Do you remember what it feels like to have a sunburn?

Do you remember how to play?

There are a handful of kids that live in the house behind me. A few days a week, they play outside, in their backyard and I always get distracted watching them make-believe. Kids are so fascinating! I loved teaching gymnastics because it gave me the opportunity to revisit a piece of my childhood. 

One day while I sat watching the kids play on the trampoline, warding off pirates and saving the damsel in distress, it occurred to me that I have completely forgotten how to imagine! I can try to create a world of my own and fantasize I am whole new person on a whirlwind adventure but I am no longer the expert imagineer that I once was. Does imagination disappear when we grow older? Or do we seize to put into practice the part of our brain that can transport us anywhere and allow us to play? 

I think it may be a little bit of both. As we grow older, our responsibilities increase and we no longer have time to practice imagining, until one day, it is gone. But “gone” is such a depressing thought  . . . maybe our imagination is just playing a game of hide-and-seek with us. All we need to do is find it and ask it to come out and play!