Imagination

“Oh, Janet, you have SUCH an imagination,” my mother used to say.

Of course my imagination has been useful, since I’m a writer.

But people use their imaginations for all sorts of other things, like getting ideas for inventions or figuring out how to solve conflicts.

I wonder if animals and other creatures have imaginations.

Many of them obviously figure out how to solve problems, but what about

thinking up stories?

Can gorillas imagine things that don’t exist? Can dogs?

And, what about other creatures like cows, birds, frogs, whales and insects?

Most of them probably can’t, but we can’t be sure.

At It Again

“Oh, Janet, you have SUCH an imagination!” my mother used to say.

Well, my imagination is at it again.

I recently learned that a family from India has bought several service stations in my community, and that gave me an idea.

What if our enemies in the Taliban were to arrange for hundreds of their members and friends to buy every service station in the USA? Then they could cause major problems for us by refusing to sell gas so we’d have no transportation. And maybe they’d even blow up all the stations and start huge fires all over the country. 

Of course that couldn’t really happen because not all service station owners would be willing to sell. And many people could use electric cars, bikes, or other forms of transportation. (And I’m sure the local family from India are not members of the Taliban.)

But it might be an idea for a sci-fi book. (Writers, feel free to use the idea since I don’t write things like that.)

Imagination

When I was a kid my mother often told me I had too much imagination, but I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to have too much imagination.

Just think what the world would be like if nobody had ever imagined anything. 

Boring!

As a kid, whether at home with my brother or out with the other kids in the neighborhood, I’d be using my imagination to pretend. Often as we played we’d become cowboys and Indians, princesses and knights in shining armor, space explorers, or adults with our own children.

And, of course, as a voracious reader, my imagination would follow the plots of whatever books I was reading. And it still does! 

That’s why I’m a writer.

When we use our imaginations anything is possible!

Imagine That

I'm happy to live in a neighborhood where kids can play outside on sunny days without adult supervision.

I wonder if they use their imaginations and pretend things as we did when I was a kid, but I certainly don't want to be nosy and spy on them.

Today's kids are using I-phones and pads so much of the time they don't have much opportunity to use their own minds to create possibilities.

And most of them are constantly under adult supervision so they stop pretending at a much younger age than my generation did.

I grew up just after World War II and, if people returning from military service had PTSD we never heard about it. I personally knew some airmen who had served in the Korean War, and my mother worked at Hamilton Air Force Base as Civilian Personel so I met quite a few other military people. They all seemed perfectly normal, though some might have hidden their trauma.

I wonder if part of the reason some war veterans have PTSD today is because they were used to shooting and killing people all the time with their computer games and didn't realize how different the real thing would be.

I wish kids could just go out to play and pretend for a few hours every day without the use of technology.

Imagination

"Oh, Janet, you have SUCH an imagination!" my mother used to say.

She didn't mean it as a compliment, but I'm happy to have an active imagination.

My neighborhood friends and I used to pretend to be all sorts of things while we played outside. At times I was a princess, a horse, a space alien, etc., etc., etc.

Unfortunately, today lots of kids stop pretending when they're young because they always have adults supervising them. Sometimes the only way they use their imaginations is with video games.

But I still have an active imagination, which is one reason why I write books for kids. And when children - or grown-ups - get involved in good books they're carried away to adventures and different worlds and experiences.

Some of my books include ordinary kids taking risks to reach important goals. One is about an imaginary creature - a giant talking worm. Another book takes readers to the past, and one helps them understand people who are different from themselves.

I believe providing fiction for kids to read is an important task.

What else can we do to help kids use and develop their imaginations?

(P.S if you want to know more about my books go to my website, www.janetanncollins.com)

More On Tech Stuff

My mother used to tell me I had too much imagination. But my imagination has come in handy for writing. Here's an imaginary event that could be interesting, to say the least.

What if something happened, such as waves of something-or-other from outer space, that instantly and completely removed all electrical power from our planet?

Most of us have experienced power outages.

While most are fixed in a matter of hours or, at worst, a few days, some caused by disasters have even lasted for days or weeks. But they are limited to certain areas, not the entire globe.

And, while our power is out we can rely on batteries and/or generators to help us get by.

But what if those didn't work, and the power was out permanently?

A hundred and fifty years ago people lived without electricity all the time, but the world was a lot different back then.

 Cars, trains, and other forms of transportation wouldn't work and neither would most ways we communicate with other people.  Even snail-mail wouldn't work without machinery to sort it and vehicles to deliver it. 

If all electric power vanished today would water still get pumped to our homes, even from wells? Would gas continue to flow through pipelines?
And, how would people react to the disaster?

Hmmm. If you're a writer like me perhaps this possibility will give you some plot ideas. Feel free to use it.

Old Time Radio Shows

When I was a kid before there was television (yes, I'm old) there was radio. And, as kids, we loved to listen to the shows.

As a preschooler I was allowed to stay up an hour later than usual on Saturdays to listen to The Lone Ranger because my mother loved that program.

Later all the kids in our neighborhood listened to Big John and Sparky on Saturday mornings. That was followed by Space Patrol. After listening to that show we'd all go out, meet the other kids, and pretend to be flying to distant planets and having adventures in outer space.

And in the evenings we'd listen to the same programs our parents liked.

But just listening only requires a certain amount of attention.

Often while the radio was on we'd play on the floor, making things with my brother's Tinkertoys or Erector Set or building towns with blocks. Then I'd fill the houses with doll house furniture and my brother would drive his toy cars and trucks on the streets between them.

Somehow listening to radio programs seemed to stimulate our imaginations and creativity.

I worry about today's kids who are so addicted to video games and other technology. Are they becoming less creative as a result? Or will those devices stimulate their imaginations?

Leaf Writing

When I was a kid some friends and I discovered a way to leave secret messages for each other. We would scratch words onto the underside of a green leaf with a stick. When the leaf dried the message would disappear so only someone who saw it while it was fresh could read it.

We felt clever to have figured out how to do that and it fit in well with the sort of things we played.

Back then kids were free to "go out and play" with others in the neighborhood without adult supervision so, unlike modern kids, we used our imaginations and pretended things for many years. We might be cowboys, space explorers, animals, kings and princesses, pirates, or any number of other things.

I was lucky to live on a hill in a small town where we could climb trees, swing from ropes, throw pebbles in the creek, or run up and down our curving, one-way street without fear of traffic.

It's sad that today many older children only feel free to use their imaginations by playing video games because adults are always supervising them.

Of course there are still some kids who have discovered the fun of getting carried away into stories by reading books. And I hope the writing on the leaves of books won't ever disappear.

Lessons for Kids

When I was a kid (longer ago than I want to say) some kids took music lessons and girls might have dancing lessons. Lots of us belonged to the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, or Campfire Girls. Religious classes and activities also took up some time.  There were no organized sports or after school child care and even most of us whose mothers worked outside the home were cared for by relatives or neighbors. Of course we had chores to do, but homework in grade school was mainly studying for tests or finishing something we hadn't done in school and seldom took much time.

All those things only took a few hours a week and once school was out kids were free to go out and play.

Lots of the activities kids participate in today are good for them.  Learning things like how to play an instrument and being physically active in sports will benefit them in the long run.

But it's too bad today's children can't ever play without adult supervision. We used to use our imagination and pretend while we played until we were ten or eleven years old. Now most kids stop that sort of play by the time they're in first grade and only escape into imaginary worlds by playing video games. 

But there's one way kids can still exercise the creative part of their minds; they can read. Once kids can read fluently books can take them anywhere and they're much more likely to become good readers if adults read to them a lot. And even older kids can participate in family times when a book is read aloud and shared by everyone.

So if you have kids please, please, find time to read to them.

What If....?

Okay, here goes my writerly imagination again.

Today plastic and synthetics are everywhere.  What would happen if they were all to suddenly disappear? Insulation on wires would be gone so fires would start, cars would fall apart on the roads, and many people would find themselves naked as their clothing evaporated.

If you're a writer, or would like to be one, think of a story involving that horrific event. What could have caused it? How would people react? And what could be done about the resulting problems?

I'd love to hear your ideas.

Dream Family

When I was a kid, maybe in my early teens, sometimes I'd lay awake at night daydreaming about my life as an adult. I wanted to be a wife, a writer and a mother, all of which I did achieve, though none quite as I had imagined.

In my youthful dreams I also designed an ideal modern house, town and planned my perfect family to live there. I decided to have a son named Robert and three daughters who would be named Anastasia Joy, Christine Elizabeth and Evelyn Ruth.

Well, I do have a son-in-law named Robert, but none of the other plans even came close. My husband and I had one birth daughter and three foster sons with special needs and raised them in a Victorian house.

But my real life was undoubtably preferable to the one I had imagined.

Sometimes we're better off when our dreams don't come true. Are there any dreams you're glad didn't happen?

Imagination

A few days ago I blogged about the wonders of becoming an excellent reader and getting carried away into a book. That's one way we use our imaginations.

A while back I mentioned the dangers limiting the freedom of today's kids. Unfortunately protecting children from danger can also stifle their imaginations.

Back when kids could go out and play with other children without adult supervision they often pretended to be various sorts of characters and acted out stories until they were well into their grammar school years. It wasn't unusual for fifth graders to join with other kids of all ages and interact as pirates, princesses, cowboys, dragons, or space explorers.

However now children are constantly with others about the same age and under adult supervision. With grownups always watching, most kids stop acting out stories they make up and pretending to be fictional characters by first grade. Instead they play organized games when they're outside together.

Modern devices like cellphone apps do allow them access to imaginary worlds, but the games and interactive videos allow only limited possibilities. At least if they discover the joys of reading and immerse themselves in fiction books they can still use their imaginations.

Dragons

Monday will be Chinese New Year, and, according to their calendar, this will be the year of the dragon. I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area where I enjoyed watching parades with lines of people dancing in a dragon costume.

In that culture dragons are considered symbols of good luck, but in European ones dragons were considered evil and dangerous.

It's interesting that in both Asian and European cultures people believed in dragons. Perhaps in both areas they had found skeletons of dinosaurs and guessed what sort of creatures those bones must have belonged to.

In both cases, the concept of dragons inspired many myths and legends. As a kid I loved reading about dragons and, to tell the truth, I still do. Those stories have enriched the imaginations of children for many generations. Maybe someday I'll write one myself.

What's your favorite dragon story?

Free Play

"Mom, can I go out to play now?"

If you're old (like me) you probably remember asking that question.

After reminding you to say "May I" in stead of "Can I," and checking to be sure you'd finished all your chores the answer was usually, "Okay" with a reminder about how to behave and when to be back home.

Then you'd rush out the front door to find your friends.

Wait a minute! Do I mean kids actually went out without adult supervision?

We sure did.

As long as the commies didn't drop an atomic bomb that day parents assumed we'd be okay.

Illegal drugs were something the papers reported were becoming a problem back in poorer sections of New York City and molestation was never mentioned in public. Only the children of rich people might get kidnapped and held for ransom and we knew to be careful not to be run over by cars.

Of course we'd often get skinned knees, someone might get a black eye in a fight and once in a while a kid might even fall out of a tree and break a bone, but nobody would get sued because of things like that. They were considered a normal part of growing up.

And we had the advantage of spending hours using our imaginations.

We might pretend to be cowboys and Indians, princesses and knights in shining armor, space explorers, detectives, horses, jungle animals, doctors, parents, or anything else we could think of. Sometimes we'd play games, but those weren't organized by adults and we could change the rules any time we agreed on new ones.

Since today's kids always have adults watching them and are usually in groups with others near the same age it's unusual for them to do pretending play after they enter grade school. For many children, electronic games are the only opportunity they have for using their imaginations.

It's a shame today's kids don't have the kind of freedom we enjoyed.

Worrying About Worrying

Okay, I admit it. I'm a worrier.

I tell myself it's wrong to worry and that I should just have faith that things will work out as they're supposed to, but I worry anyway and then I worry more because I know I shouldn't worry.

But what if worrying isn't evil? What if it's part of having a creative mind that tends to think "what if..." in every situation? Most of my writer friends tell me they, too, tend to worry a lot.

And if people didn't ever worry they wouldn't take precautions. Imagine if everyone in Japan had simply decided not to worry about what the earthquake did to the nuclear power plant? What if the oil spill had been allowed to remain in the Gulf of Mexico and nobody had bothered to clean it up? What if nobody prepared their homes with smoke alarms, had disaster preparedness kits, or got medical check ups and immunizations?

In all those examples there's something practical to be done as a result of worrying and worrying about things we can't control is a total waste of time. But if our creative minds keep worrying we can find ways to use that negative imagination in positive ways. For example, how about using them as plot suggestions? And maybe some of us worriers will figure out practical ways to prevent possible future problems and make the world a better place.