Hi! I'm back for just a little minute, with a project I HAD to make after I watched a clip from Oprah that brought me to tears. Not because the subject matter was particularly sad, but because the overall effect is tragic! Oprah visited a second-grade class at the Yearning for Zion polygamist ranch (the one that was raided and over 400 children removed). You can watch the clip HERE.
Several things came to mind, but the overriding tragedy is that these children do not get to use their imagination AT ALL! They've never even heard of Cinderella or the Little Mermaid or Humpty Dumpty or Shrek, let alone pretended to be one of these characters! They claim that work is fun, and they never play ("it's not fun", claimed one little boy), and the very meaning of the word 'play' is synonymous with 'goofing off'!
Why do I consider this tragic - beyond the obvious these-kids-are-missing-their-childhood scenario? Because the underlying tenet - that everything they do serves the purpose of becoming like God - is self-contradicting, for starters. If, in fact, there is a God, and if, in fact, He is perfect, would he not have a perfect imagination? Didn't He (or She or They or whatever) dream up flowers and clouds and hummingbirds and the platypus and all the rest of it? If these people are aspiring to become gods themselves, won't they need imagination when they start creating their own "worlds without end"?
Every single thing you see around you - NO exceptions - was a thought before it was a thing, whether in man's mind or God's. Have you ever, ever in your entire life created something with no thought behind it? With no imagining the end result? Yes, things evolve in the making, and the finished product may turn out different from the original thought, but the original thought at the very least initiated the making!
Einstein - brilliant man that he was - referred to imagination as "a preview of coming attractions". It just pulls at my heartstrings to see this entire generation of children growing up without a preview, and with no concept of play!
Furthermore, I recently read an article about the importance of play to keeping our brains healthy. I can't remember all the ins-and-outs of it, nor where I read it, but it was something along the lines of play being vital to keeping our brains fluid and supple and able to problem-solve and the like. Isn't that a purpose well-served?
One of my favorite quotes is from Jerry Seinfeld: "It's good to play, and you must keep in practice." Amen, Jerry! I used it on this:
It's a little wall hanging to remind me to play. I used two other quotes besides the Seinfeld one. They are all from the same "Simple Thoughts - Laughter" stamp set from Cloud 9 Design. The paper is from Sassafrass Lass, and has my old high school colors (red and gold - go Corona Panthers!), so it qualifies for last week's "Limited Supply" challenge on Splitcoast to use either our high school colors or the colors from our wedding. The other guideline was to use either staples, photo turns or clips of any kind. I dug out my spiral clips and tied a ribbon or two around them. The pattern behind the sentiments was the "Petals" wheel (that isn't a wheel anymore) from Stampin'Up! stamped with Summer Sun.I can't get a decent picture to save me today - too cloudy and bad light or whatever - and so the colors are a bit off and the words are harder to read here than in real life, but at least I made something and shared, right? That's it for today - I've got sewing to do!
Maybe you can tell that my mindset is improving... told ya the funk never lasted long! We'll see how this week/weekend goes from here... Hope yours is going fabulously, and I'll be back (hopefully) soon!
