wanderlust wednesday

Sometimes I wonder how we can fall in love with a place we've never been to.

I've heard that quote a lot, and I find that it speaks to my heart. Whenever I see it I am almost inclined to pump my fist in the air, triumphant, like "Yes! That's so true!"
Go figure it's a quote from a John Green book, because he has a rather uncanny ability to reach straight to the heart and reveal wistful, tragic, beautiful pieces within ourselves. Don't even get me started on The Fault in Our Stars because I just don't have the emotional fortitude.

I can dig deeper for myself, at least, and say the reason I can find kinship with a place I've never been is a mixture of imagination, experience, storytelling, reading, and dreaming.

I wrote a post a few days back about experiencing Christmas around the world, and I could absolutely imagine myself in every one of those places. Puzzle pieces coming together from the various sources of imaginative powers that I have built up over the years. Memories, books, movies, photos. I am such a huge advocate for encouraging imagination in little kids and adults alike. I encourage it in myself almost every day. It really is a super power. How else could I fall in love with somewhere I've never been? Or even somewhere that doesn't even exist, like Narnia and Middle Earth and, sadly, Hogwarts.

We were created to be philosophical, adventurous, curious, imaginative, creative. This is the reason why I celebrate Wanderlust Wednesday. I love reliving my own trips and memories, but I also hope to inspire others to wish, dream, and imagine. I would love to spark that wanderlust in someone new, galvanizing them to make that life-changing decision to travel or, at the very least, to imagine themselves in a foreign place filled with new foods and new traditions and new adventures. To fall in love with a city they've never been to, and with people they've never met.

character influence {frocktober, day 16}

I hope you don't tire of the sunset hour. It still takes my breath away whenever I waltz out the door to that perfect pink ridge of sky. 

We took these pictures among the bright green creosote bushes on my parents property. They're lovely little things up close, with little fuzzy white buds and bright yellow five-petaled flowers. They're the actual "smell of rain" that we all know and love in the desert. I have very distinct memories of walking up the driveway as a kid, hand outstretched to touch the many branches I passed, as if I was going through the high-five line at the end of a soccer game. I would always arrive at my friend's house across the street with that fresh, smoky smell of creosote on my hands. 

My friend Amber and I had such vivid imaginations as kids. As my husband and I walked around the bushes last night, I started thinking about all of the games and characters we would play around these patches of green and gold. It got me thinking about the many characters I encountered at a young age that truly influenced me. 

I remember very vividly when I began to say, whenever I was hurt or disappointed, that I was in the "depths of despair". Anne of Green Gables had a very vibrant impact on my personality. I wanted to be poetic, witty, dramatic, heartfelt. 

My early attachment to romantic gestures led me to the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, which still gets me to this day. I love Elizabeth Bennet and her self-assuredness, her wit and her charm. Even better, I love that she admits that she was wrong. Although I would have too, for Colin Firth. 

I'm sure the gaggle of princesses I watched and loved had a pretty high impact on my love of dresses and jewelry. Camille from Little Nemo, Buttercup from The Princess Bride, Danielle de Barbarac from Ever After. And of course the Disney powerhouses, Jasmine and Belle. For obvious reasons, I always loved the dark-haired Disney princesses the best. 

Dress (shop!): Ruche, Cardigan: gifted (from Last Chance),
Lace Slip/Dress (remixed): old

Despite my affinity for sappy movies and female characters, I was quite the tom boy. My three brothers had a hand in that. I loved The Labyrinth and could sing along to all of those weird David Bowie tunes, and I begged my parents for months to let me watch Jurassic Park when it came out, even though I was only 5 or 6 at the time. Obviously my favorite Jurassic character was Ian Malcolm, who was obnoxious but witty and he was a survivor. He ended up being brave, risking his life to save the kids and charming us all with his Chaos Theory banter and sarcasm, not to mention his fetching thick-rimmed glasses. 

Then there was Philippe Gaston, played by Matthew Broderick in a little movie called Ladyhawke. I would call this a fairly sappy movie, but since my favorite character is a boy, I'm placing it here. He is the funniest little thief and was the sole cause of my Matthew Broderick crush that went on strongly into the late 90's, and still shows up occasionally when I watch Ferris Bueller or Godzilla. I love Philippe because he is honest and kind, and believes in the beauty of love, loyalty and sacrifice. I also love him because he says things like, "I know I promised, Lord, never again. But I also know that YOU know what a weak-willed person I am."

And lastly, there was the brave Atreyu, from The Neverending Story, that strange little movie that is better left to childhood recollections rather than watched as an adult. I blame him for my over-attachment to animals, because watching his horse Artax drown in the Swamp of Sadness while he screamed is something that still haunts me. I mean for real though why. 

I think characters that we love as children play such a fun part in who we decide to be, whether it's long-lasting or not. I don't still want to be Raggedy Ann, but I do cherish that Halloween memory of wearing her costume and watching her cartoon over and over. What a kind soul she is, and quite fond of candy and friendship. 

Which characters did you adore (and possibly imitate) as a child? 

where dwell the brave at heart

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.
Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
Roald Dahl

When I was little, the highlights of my life were the moments of uninterrupted imagination.

Why deny it? I loved stories, and I still do.

My dad was the most wonderful storyteller. He was a visionary, molding us into an epic adventure straight from our bedsides. I would bolt downstairs into the territory of my three brothers, and we would all gather around to hear the latest tales of us. Our magical encounters, terrifying battles, beautiful friendships. Wizards and dragons and flying treehouses, oh my!

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.
Albert Einstein

What a beautiful time that was. How extraordinary is the imagination? 

Ask the brothers who played with a small toy helicopter as children, which sparked their interest in flying. Who later closely observed the wings of birds in flight, and applied that to the invention of the airplane. 

Ask the young boy whose curiosity for the world made him naturally sensitive to poetry, art and music, which was encouraged by his mother. And later, when his mother began to go deaf, he learned alternative ways to communicate with her -- eventually studying acoustics and inventing the telephone.

Ask the boy who moved constantly as a child, but preoccupied himself with lessons led by his mother, such as drawing plants and trees and studying languages, specifically Latin. Who learned how to read and write at age four, and continued to write one of the most celebrated high fantasy series of all time.

Really, ask any teacher, adventurer, artist, writer, photographer, inventor...

And anyone who has ever been in contact with, influenced by, or inspired because of them.

That's everyone, people. All of you crazy wonderful beings with the God-given ability to imagine. 

gate at versailles

Parents and adults can create such an astounding magic when they say the right thing at the right time in a child's life. When they play, cultivating a child's mind by providing opportunities to develop the wondrous muscles of their imaginative worlds.

Did you know that imagination is contagious?

A child's heart and mind is so easily reached and influenced through the boulevard of make-believe.

They can make something dry and empty into something charming, engaging, humorous and alive. 

They are at the peak of their imaginative strength -- stretching their muscles of discovery and creativity like a lamb in its gambols. 

From the daydreams of the young and innocent may come the revolutionary, amazing, transcendent accomplishments of the adult.

No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith.
R.A. Salvatore

I suppose I'm saying all of this for you make-believe naysayers, the ones who tell children they're liars if they say they spent all day playing in a fairy forest with a grizzly bear whose favorite ice cream is strawberry.
For the people that send kids to time out for having an imaginary friend.
For the people that put Winnie the Pooh on the Banned Books list.
And, okay, I may as well say it: for those that condemn books like Harry Potter without even opening the pages, unable to see the love, friendship, courage, victory, and truth that is prevalent throughout.

For the people that misunderstand the purpose of the imagination, and what a beautiful and powerful gift it is.

This post is for the souls out there who need to be touched by the magic of storytelling - even if you think you've outgrown it, even if you think you don't need it -- that probably just means you need it more than anyone else in the world.