Unimagination · 12:23am Jul 8th, 2023
Hey, all. I guess I'm in a reflective mood, and I thought where I'm at might be something relatable for a lot of us.
The show is old now. Like, okay, My Little Pony was already old, but Friendship is Magic was new and fresh and... it's almost thirteen years old now. Gen 4 has existed for most of a childhood, which is to say that whatever childhood those of us watching in real time had, it's mostly (or for a lot of us, very) over now. I've been there for a while. I'm trying to fend for myself. I've got bills to pay and a job to do and never enough time or money in between.
However. I've been forcing myself back into writing. Dragging myself back to the keyboard and blank Google Docs. It's not that I ran out of things to say or the want to say them, it's just that the work of creation has been more than I could handle. There have been days of good progress, where the words have flowed easily or a paragraph has felt competent or, miraculously, both have been true in the same session. But the adultier I get, the more I've noticed a certain obstacle to creativity.
When you're a kid, the world is so much bigger. It's not just relativity, it's perspective. The forest isn't just a bunch of trees, it's a place where you can build tree forts and play hide and seek and climb the tallest trees and see what seems like the whole world. Wild things live in the forest, and so anything could live there. It's terrifying and exciting and dangerous and thrilling and always full of something new.
When you're an adult, the forest is just a place where ticks and rabies and the deer that eat your garden come from, and the place your children go into and never find their way back. It's almost a thing to be defeated, and as much as possible, very much to be avoided if there isn't a trail. There are possibilities, yes, but in the form of how it could be developed, the houses that could be built, the shed you could add for the riding mower you're going to need for all that extra yard, the property value that could be added. Adults' imaginations, simply, are just more tangible. Somewhere, the wonder is lost, unless you fight tooth and nail to keep it alive.
I'm trying to build my tree forts again.
Edit: Enjoy the new story, now that it's posted. Hopefully it resonates in some way, but it feels good just to put things out there again.
I think that.... the best way to keep the wonder.... to keep the beautiful imagination it helps to have some REALLY good friends... and above all? It helps to never stop exploring what avenues you can always try. Even ones that seem REALLY stupid at times.