a 5 year-old's imagination

the power of play

there’s power in a 5 year-old’s imagination

as she creates whole worlds

within which she acts

and within which character after character also act,

all within her power as that of the creator,

she can lose herself in play for long periods

where her will is dominant,

such control can contrast sharply with the regular world

that can mightily frustrate a young one:

all the restrictions on her impulses

as others need their turn

and many desires need tempering,

play is a respite, an escape,

from the hard work of growing-up,

and also a place to work out the plaguing kinks from her stumbles,

it’s calisthenics for the imagination

and a retreat before the next advance:

then she’s back in the give-and-take differentiation of self and other

that tempers and shapes the steel of her will.

by Henry H. Walker

March 30, ’14