“We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It’s just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn’t have expected.” - Ben Okri
Through our lives, we are surrounded by family and friends. Human beings encompass the every ups and downs in our existence, by providing us with companionship and absolving us of the feelings of loneliness in the universe. But there are other companions that follow us from our childhood that nourishes us, allow us to imagine, to create, to project and reflect upon, but most importantly to play with; Our Toys.
These simple, inanimate, yet vital objects have played major roles in our upbringing from children to adults, in our development of creativity and thought, in our ability to express and to share. The toys we play always had a major contribution in defining one’s identity. It is a representation of our personal likes, habits, imaginations, dreams, and an outlet for creativity, in a sense, becoming an extension of our physical being. Even in adulthood, toys are still a part of our selves, acting as a symbol or avatar for our physical and personal being.
Studies have shown that toys by nature, are not just for play, but have the ability to boost learning and development skills. A child’s preferences and basic likes or dislikes can be observed as they play. This is the start of their formation of their senses of self. Adults also have considerable uses for toys, being able to bring themselves away from their usual lives and into an imaginary one for relaxation and play is proven useful for most people. If you think about this, and really think deep, you know on some level this makes sense.
Try to recall back the toy you had when you were a child. What was your favorite? Did it leave an impact in your life? At first glance, perhaps that impact is not that clear, or just a mere speck on the windshield. But if you look long enough, those specs will join in line to form a big picture. That big picture is you dear reader. All objects in life are interconnected through the fabrics of Space & Time, and that includes the toys we had, and still have. We gave them life, and purpose in our live, and in so doing, they are able to have a defining force in our very existence and identity. Makes sense?
What we can see here is how a toy can symbolize us, upon reflection and imprinting. It can be said that we imprint ourselves unto our toys whenever we play with them, allowing us to do or imagine us doing things that normally our overprotective parents would not allow us to do. Our toys are our Prison break buddies, bringing us away from the restrictions placed upon us by those whom believe what is best for us, or basically away from society’s standards and stresses if you will. In so doing, we bond with our fellow escapees, thus leaving a little bit of them in our selves.
All of us have a variety of toys which fills our lives, some of which we have kept since our childhood, and other new toys that we have bought in our adulthood. No matter how old or new, each of these toys continue to serve a vital function in our lives, and we are continually defined by them. Their influence and function has changed in comparison to those that we had since childhood.
As children, toys played an important role in our development and thinking. As adults, they serve more as an outlet and an anchor for our inner child, a connection to a part within our selves. That part of us keeps our soul from becoming jaded, and allows us to still think creatively and have fun from time to time. We play in order to exert our imagination, and in so doing find out and express a little bit of our identities in the process.
