OF EAGLETS AND CHILDREN

Q. How is a child’s sense of fantasy related to inventiveness? Isn't technological savvy grounded in thorough scientific knowledge and rigorous study?

A. Similar to any other human muscle or capacity, the imagination atrophies if it’s not exercised. For this reason sixteen years of plodding through unimaginative academics fosters memory, analysis and parroting at the expense of the capacity to envision new possibilities.

Suppression of the sense of fantasy is analogous to clipping the wings of pet parakeets. It’s a good way to insure that a tame bird stays in the confines of a familiar dwelling. If the pet does escape through the door, it’s not likely to make it past a nearby tree.

The generative potentials of our children are more akin to freely soaring eagles than caged birds. Within months, eaglets begin to flap their wings. Importantly, the parent eagles encourage their offspring through their own daily flights. Very soon the eaglet’s food will no longer be brought to him. He must soar with strong wings at breathtaking heights to survey vast terrains.

Soon out of toddlerhood, fledgling humans begin exercising their imaginations. Once awakened, this persistent urge can turn anything from a bit of fluff, to a stone, stick or fabric square into the three year old’s pretend play.

Among the important reasons for cultivating the wings of the imagination, is the sense of meaningful connection and contribution to one's society. The heart of Nature impels the first flights of fantasy with joyful abandon. A dynamic community further infuses the sense of fantasy with a sense of purpose--the urge to create new designs and inventions for the betterment of one's people.

The hands that hold the doll or build structures of blocks become instruments of the heart that embraces humanity, taps limitless resources, and invents in harmony with nature. The lessons encoded in fairytales, parables and legends endow the generative genius with ethical precision.

At six, seven, eight and nine years old the imagination is still expanding with growing complexity. The chapter book series, Wolves of the Beyond (Lasky) inspired one group of 7 to 11 year olds to become wolf packs extrapolating new adventures from the books’ plots during recess. For weeks on end the wolf packs built structures on the prairie and pursued one another through Thorn Forest, which forms a green belt perimeter for the prairie. The participants even figured out how to card the school’s knitting yarn to make magnificent wolf tales, which they attached to their belts.

These past weeks, it's been moving to see the children’s total absorption in their co-created dramas. And how wonderful to know that by behaving as nature designed them, the children are exercising an artery of superior intelligence—the imagination!

While intellectual gymnastics in cold institutions produce pedantic plodders, the restored Mother essence incubates the heart/soul complex of human hatchlings. This heart/soul brilliance announces its presence through individual talents and preferences. The child, a receptive conduit for the soul’s nudging, invites academic forays and flights of imagination as complementary aspects of his work/play.

The imagination, synchronously developed with the absorption of new knowledge, expands exponentially. From childhoods satiated this integration of science and creativity, emerge  fulfilling vocation opportunities for graduates.

Far removed from the perching of caged fowl, Nature’s children try their wings for a future of soaring like eagles. But their best learning opportunities come from attentive elders, who likewise extend their own wings and soar skyward.