Imagination

I was just thinking about when I was growing up, we lived in an extremely small rural community where there was one broken caution light and one general store that you could go buy a "Cokie" Cola and moon pie and a few grocery type items.  We had a television, but it only picked up three channels and other than that there was no other ready made entertainment.  So, my brothers and I had to entertain ourselves.  We would do the usual cops and robbers sort of stuff, but being 5 years difference between each of us, they outgrew this make-believe entertainment well before I did.  So, I learned to use my favorite thing in the world, and that was my imagination.  It was free, plentiful and I could play by myself or if friends were over I could let them in on it.  It was better than any board game or television program.  It would scare me to death, or make me laugh, or allow me an escape whenever I needed a break from the real world.  As I got older, I slowly stopped using my imagination and every once in awhile, Id think about it with a fondness that we reserve for the best childhood memories.  The rational, logical adult mind seems to fight imagination with all its might, and its hard to recapture it once it is gone.  I think thats why I love gaming and reading so much.  I can access a magical world where anything is possible.  And though that is wonderful, I still think Im gonna make a bigger effort to dust off my imagination, grease the wheels and take it for a spin.