“Mommy, we are making a “fluffy” camp-out!”
Last night, after many daytime hours of fighting, my three boys actually banded together to do what they love doing best these days – making a “camp-out.” Apparently this one involved “fluffy” stuff. They laid their bedroom comforters and their best stuffed animals down on the hard tile floor to make it a comfortable place to lie down and dream.
These “camp-outs” have moved from room to room all over the house this summer. One day, I went into the twins room to find my oldest sitting calmly on the bed listening to his iPad and the twins nowhere in sight. “Where are your brothers?” I asked him. He absentmindedly pointed down as I heard the faint sounds of giggling. I crouched down and looked under the two beds, and there they were. They had draped a comforter over the span between the beds and brought in a lamp and their favorite toys.
I love these “camp-outs” for so many reasons. First, it means they are blissfully occupied for quite sometime building them up and then playing in them. Second, it usually means they are all getting along for a time as well. But most of all, I love them because the boys carry themselves off to all sorts of make believe worlds with just a few sheets and a couple pieces of furniture. They imagine, for a little while, the world they want to live in – and it appears right before their eyes.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could do that? Imagine the world just as we want it to be and then have it appear right before our eyes?
Maybe it would help if we could harness a little of the creativity and unencumbered faith of children.
This morning my prayer is for vision. May we be able to let our imaginations come to life so that somewhere in all our dreaming – keys to a brighter future may be found.
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein
