Imaginary Friends

“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

D has been telling me stories about the Munchkin’s imaginary friend. This friend’s name is Sarah. And she lives on another planet. The Munchkin comes up with some really outrageous, uber-imaginative stories about Sarah and her escapades. I enjoy being updated about the most recent adventures of the Munchkin and Sarah.

D and I were talking the other night. She informed me that Sarah has a birth mother. I thought that was amazing enough. But then she told me Sarah’s birth mother’s name: Janennanise. The Munchkin combined our names. I was so amused, so happy and so touched all at the same time. And then I was pretty sure that the Munchkin was a creative genius. Right? Isn’t she? I think so.

I mean, take Einstein’s quote. She’s taken her knowledge of what she knows and turned it into something of her own. I liken it to how I learn something better when I teach it. I tutored a student in Spanish once. She was in my same class but was struggling greatly. I didn’t miss an answer on any of those tests that I helped her prepare for because teaching her helped me get a better handle on the language. (I suppose it didn’t hurt that I was good with languages.)

All the same: she knows I’m her birth mother. She doesn’t view the concept of birth mother as a bad thing. And, really, that feels totally awesome. Kudos to her parents for creating an environment in which imagination is encouraged to grow and grow. Kudos indeed!