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Things are not as they seem

Things are not as they seem

Moments I recall from my childhood are rarely straight forward. If I am honest, I remember them as a mix of magical and real. This is a moment as I recall it. I was probably 9 or so? A self-portrait drawn age 11. Formerly a princess and now a prisoner on Earth, I was sent to live in the Kingdom of Efafra (also known as my family). There, we had to follow very specific rules. The first rule was, don’t upset the Ogre. The second rule, was don’t upset the Ogre, and the third rul

My Origin Story

My Origin Story

“Fantasy is true, of course. It isn’t factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living.” —Ursula K. Le Guin My Planet is a planet in outer space about the size of three large watermelons, if you bundled them together. At one time a princess calle

Dianne and Darcy

Dianne and Darcy

I sat down with Dianne to talk about her imaginary friend Darcy who she invented around the age of four-years-old. Here's what she said: My imaginary friend’s name was Darcy. Darcy didn’t really seem to have a gender, [she] was kind of genderless but cool, was I guess like a cool version of me. Although I’m pretty cool as well, I think. I don’t remember that many details of Darcy, but I took Darcy everywhere, to San Diego, to Los Angeles when we lived out there for a month, t

Katie the orange button-eyed kangaroo

Katie the orange button-eyed kangaroo

Many of us remember moments in our childhood play that shaped us. Below are a few memories shared very graciously by Jonathan: I think I found make-believe a bit intimidating. In kindergarten, we had one of those "parents' days" and we all got to "be" something; so one kid was an airplane and "flew" all around the roof, one kid was a milkman and she wheeled around a wagon with bottles; I was a statue and stood on a box. I don't remember having any imaginary playmates, though

Alison Gopnik on Children and Creativity