Learning how to escape into your imagination

"Get off that video game, Tom," shouted Amanda, his mom. The voice came from another room in the house. "Stop texting so much," she yelled to her daughter, Melissa, in another room. Amanda had about had it with all the television viewing, game playing and cellphone addiction of her children.

She remembered the things she did as a child. Amanda grew up on a farm and was often lonely, but no other children lived close to her. Consequently, she looked for things with which to occupy herself. She would play with her pets, write poetry, read, play school with the younger neighbor boy and whatever else she could create to do. Amanda thought it was normal to have to occupy yourself sometimes. Why couldn't her children do this?

Today, technology is the current mode of entertainment as well as a business tool; however, children and adults alike are losing their ability to occupy their time without a device of some kind. Adults are beginning to join the world of children by learning to color again. I have always liked to color. I am not gifted in the art of drawing, but I derive pleasure from placing pretty colors onto a drawing in a book.

If you can persuade people to put down their devices for a time, they find there are other things to do. I'm as guilty as anyone else because all the technology amazes me, and I do think it's a blessing to have if you exercise moderation.

My attention was brought to the subject of children's creativity recently as I watched a television commercial soliciting money for children in Third World countries. It was difficult to hold back tears, which was their intention.

Two small girls resided in Haiti, and they were very poor. They barely had enough food to sustain them, much less any toys, but they knew no other way of life, so they devised their own mode of pleasure. The little girls made up all sorts of make-believe worlds.

Tonya and Bata constructed a playhouse made of a box and a cover thrown over a tree. My, what a dream-life they lived. The girls built a make-believe fire in their dreamed-up fireplace. Built into their dream of a better life, Tonya and Bata held their own little tea parties. Their life of make-believe was complete with a baby. They found an old, worn, dirty teddy bear in the garbage dump. The teddy bear, Jane, was their baby, so they bathed and burped her. Baby Jane also was rocked in the make-believe rocking chair.

The girls spent long, glorious hours within their world that existed only in their minds. They could have complained, cried and made no attempt to motivate themselves to get out of their rut. Even though their dream-life was unreal, it planted seed for a better future. Hopefully, they would grow up knowing their happiness depended on their attitude rather than someone else's ability and willingness to fill their time.

Being creative is a gift. Creativity doesn't merely mean being artistic. It means you can come up with ideas on your own, being innovative. You find the most happiness and fulfillment when you are the instigator of your own destiny -- when you reach into the depths of your being and find the real you. So being creative is a lifeline.

Often, you grab a quick fix out of fear you'll be lonely or bored. Philippians 4:11 offers an attitude we need to adopt when we're bored and have to entertain ourselves.

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." Escaping into your imagination may be your answer.