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09/10/2004 Archived Entry: "My own bridge to Terabithia..."

I don't think peope who don't have characters that reside in their imagination on a near-constant basis quite understand why some characters look or act the way they do. Particularly with Evil.

Evil is designed to bridge that gap between childhood and adulthood. As if to say "It's still okay to be playful about things!" This is -not- to be confused with being a pedophile or anything like that! I think Skifi understands it better than anyone else I've tried explaining it to. *hugs for Skifi* Because when you're in your twenties and thirties and even in your fourties and fifties you don't want to lose your sense of childlike curiosity but you'd very much like to retain the things you know now.

And to go a notch higher on this discussion, let's talk about "imaginary friends". There's nothing wrong with imaginary friends; little characters you play stories with, role-play with because you know them best, and draw most frequently because they come out so naturally. It's just like anything else in real life - too much of anything can be harmful. But there's no harm in wanting to hold on to little characters for the rest of your life. If you've ever seen "The Wizard of Oz" movie or watched "Labyrinth" or "Spirited Away" or even read "Bridge to Terabithia" you'd see I'm not the only one who shares that opinion.

And a notch deeper... I feel really sorry for the people who look on and sneer. I feel sadness for the people who say "How childish!" as though being a child was something to be quickly forgotten. I feel my heart go out to people who're too trapped in their own superstitions, dogma, politics, anger, prejudice, and fear to just let it.... melt away, if only for a moment. There'll never be a Utopian society, you learn that straight away. There'll never be a Neverland, but it's nice to slip away to it for a while. There'll never be an age without conflict, humans weren't designed that way. That doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to never trying to make things find some sort of equilibrium.