Never grow up. It’s the premise of Peter Pan, the title of a Taylor Swift song, and a common sentiment of parents hoping their little ones can stay that innocent and imaginative forever. As I prepare for the final weeks of my undergraduate college experience, I’ve realized that they all have it right.
Before I really start, I’ll go ahead and acknowledge the “adult” things such as managing finances, being self-sufficient, and being a responsible worker which are all important skills and attributes to develop as we grow up. These practical skills are essential to survive in this world, so it’s not that I’m saying these aren’t necessary or that we should forgo them.
Let me take you back to a moment when I was about seven or eight. It was late July and I was walking around my backyard, alone, thinking about how bored I was. No friends were around, and my siblings were busy or didn’t want to hang out, so my mom told me to go find something to do outside. She was busy, I’m sure engaging in some “adult” activity like doing taxes or meal planning or something like that.
So I kept walking, barefoot with mud from the night’s rain squishing between my toes, and started to create an imaginary world. In this world, there were fairies and other creatures that came out at night. For them, the night was day and our day was their sleeping time. Nocturnal, you could say. I imagined how I would sneak away while my family was asleep and cross the barrier line, that I had created, that would allow me access into this world. I would meet all these new friends and they would ask me to come back and visit every day. We would have tea parties together and play games and tell each other secrets. And I’m sure that I would have been able to do it, to mingle with the fairies, if I hadn’t been so exhausted by creating this world that I slept soundly through the night and woke to the same reality I fell asleep in.
Sounds amazing, right? And so imaginative. And so cute. That’s what you would say to a child.
But if I told you I did this as an adult. What would you call it? Childish in the worst way. A waste of time. Unrealistic, tell me to go do something productive.
As I prepare to enter this “real world,” a world that seems so far from the one I created in a day when I was young, I wonder why dreaming stops in our childhood. And not the kind of dreaming about the car you want or career goals. That kind of dreaming is important too. But why did we ever stop dreaming beyond the boundaries of our reality? Why can’t we imagine things that we know not to be true?
And so my message to you as I bid you farewell, take a little time to embrace the imagination that has never left you, just been hidden or suppressed. Take 10 minutes from the technology and the hustle and bustle of what I know are busy days and let the mud squish between your toes, let the clouds tell you a story, open yourself to the impossibilities that adults are not supposed to believe to be true.
Breathe into the unknowns and create a world where magic is real. This will be your escape, even if for just a moment. Even if just for a moment, allow yourself to stop growing up.