Imagination

I love to read, when I have time, that is. But isn’t it just the worst when a movie is made after a book, and the movie does not follow the book at all? That’s the absolute worst. I love to read because rather than have a picture and a scene placed in front of you, you get to imagine and put together the scenes and characters in your head.

I didn’t always like reading. I actually used to hate it. I didn’t like it because I thought I wasn’t good at it because my friends were reading more advanced books in my third grade class while I was stuck reading the Magic Tree House books, books that my friends had already read. Although I did love those books, and now I would totally go back and read them, at the time, they were not the “cool” books to read. By the way, why isn’t reading considered cool? It never has been considered “cool”. Well, I think reading is cool, but back to the subject here. Those Magic Tree House books had something about them. They incorporated adventures and fun with the help of imagination. Those books utilized my imagination to the very fullest as I had to imagine what Annie and Jack looked like, and I had to imagine and create each scene from the book in my head. Looking back, I really appreciate those books, and I’m glad I got the chance to read them. So let’s get back to the imagination part of reading; reading, I think is better than watching TV because you have to fabricate each character and each scene. It seems like people are not losing their imagination, but they aren’t using it to it’s fullest extent anymore with all of the technology we have. Now, because we all have iPads and computers and phones are our disposal, we don’t have the need to use our imaginations, nor are we encouraged to use them.

When I was a child, there were obviously no iPads or iPhones to keep us occupied at dinner tables, so my brothers and I had to either use our imaginations, or actually talk to each other… just kidding. But anyways, to keep occupied, we usually had some crayons and paper to color on. Coloring seems pretty juvenile and simple, but if you think about it, it is very similar to reading because you have to use your imagination to create a picture. You have a picture of what you want to draw in your head, and typically, I drew rainbows and princesses, but I would always imagine what that princess was wearing, what her name was, where she lived, etc. I created a whole life for this princess in my head that only I could create. No TV show or movie could replicate what I had imagined in my head.

Now, even though I still do occasionally color and draw, reading is more age appropriate and more educational in my mind. By reading, I get to exercise my imagination and my brain by creating scenes and learning new vocabulary. I believe that imagination is very important, and as imagination is slow slipping away with the integration of technology, I think that everyone should give reading a shot, even if you start with Annie and Jack as they go on their adventures in their magic tree house.