We all have our own worlds inside our minds. The amount of creativity and imagination on this subconscious realm allows us to figure out things in our daily lives, cope with complicated situations and even dissipate the adversity of the moment. The subconscious actually helps us cope with issues, confront our problems and understand the real world outside our front doors every morning.
When we’re little, we live in this universe of ours almost all day. As we grow older, we detach from our imaginations in order to interact with the things around us. However, some of us have experienced this disassociation more deeply than others. We have had people impose their ideas in such negative ways that we have almost completely left our subconscious worlds. In this process we have left our innocent creativity, passions and imagination.
Sadly, we pay the price later on when we are not able to confront situations in real life. We have lost the ability to separate ourselves from the chaos of our daily lives and go to the safe, happy spaces in our minds. Eventually, we grow dependent on material things and other people because we are not able to find peace within ourselves. We start looking for attention and control. At the end of the day, we find ourselves in compromising situations that might affect our feelings even further.
As a kid, I was diagnosed with an attention disorder. Teachers pressured me into the idea that I needed to ground myself and cross the rainbow into reality as often as possible in order to achieve my goals. This allowed me to graduate high school and conquer my academic goals. In the process, I lost part of my imagination and creativity that allowed me to escape from my problems and find some inner peace. Nowadays, I see how deep the struggle is for me to go back to my wonderland and find some inner peace in my life.
Therefore, I would like to encourage the idea of compassion toward kids’ imaginations. Kids live in and create universes in which they are able to explore and learn. Allow them to share this world with you while you teach them lessons. Also, show compassion toward the ones that still have this gift and are able to find respite from reality more easily than you.
Let’s avoid judging these children and anyone else you consider different from you. In addition, if you still have this ability, don’t be ashamed of your imagination. Show it to others, and share your inner love with the people who surround you. In order to change the world, we must learn to accept that reality is full of all of the colors on the spectrum, and we must learn to respect the different things people imagine and appreciate, whether they make sense to us or not.
Andrea Taboada is a UF microbiology senior. Her column appears on Wednesdays.
