The keys to everything you can imagine
There is a place in every city, town or village that was the “center” of knowledge, the place to soar above the daily grind. It gave you the ticket to countries one could never visit in a lifetime, meet people who are an inspiration to many, and actually learn the history of your country, your family, or events that happened before you were born.
Today, the chair is empty, the light is dimmed, and the door doesn’t need oil because it doesn’t open and close as much as it used to. The floors are gleaming, the tables are just beginning to show signs of “dust”, but the “quiet” says it all. Right there on a side table is a token of civilization, a tool that led many to the most difficult decisions of their lives and, in many cases, eased anger, hostility and violence because it told the truth, presented the facts and did nothing. all silent, 24 hours a day and sometimes even in the dark hours of the night. This fabulous tool of humanity was the simple but powerful “book”. The shelves are all lined up and the jackets are straight, but the buzz of minds and imaginations spinning and discovering is nowhere to be found. His miracle lies in wait for those who simply do not come, the little ones who touched the pages and, believe it, imagined where the pages gently guided them. While there were facts and figures, there was also “simulation”, a land of imagination, peace and delight. The children became airplane pilots, train drivers, graceful ballet dancers, nurses who healed life’s little pains.
When you woke up during the night with a bad dream, there was a partner on your nightstand. You could turn on the light and rescue frayed nerves by flipping through a story you may have read a thousand times, but tonight would be a beacon of safety and make dreaming possible again. On a cold winter night, a book on a table near the fire was heaven with a cup of cocoa. It allowed you to delve into a Sherlock Holmes mystery, while you snuggle under a warm tartan blanket and listen to the hiss and crackle of a live fire. It may even have lulled you into peaceful repose, as your mind wandered with visions, dreams, knowledge, and adventures. This book contained the key to unlock the vault of learning about life, and why we do and what we believe. It gave you the opportunity to remake history in your own way, but it still gave you a safe path to move forward, with the railings of the old, the old and the fictitious guarding your steps lest you fail in the land of hope, love. , and successful.
Today we have handheld devices, with bright lights and chimes. You’ll never be offline as your cell phone, iPhone, or handheld will find the answers for you, spread the news, and even remind you what your schedule is for the day and when to walk, sleep, or run. With all of this, your mind is strangely quiet and becomes heavy with its own weight as you ignore its tremendous powers and potentials. Your “device” doesn’t even allow you to waste a single minisecond without making sure you have twenty opinions, directives, and features, but only one thing is missing: your input of who you are and what you want. The machine now bypasses the realm of wonders and directs you to other “applications” that contain even more answers that are not really yours, but are intended to influence, manage, and change you as a person. While adults with all their responsibilities feel like they need “instant” answers, even they miss a small part of being human: investigating, checking things out at their own pace and what their inner mind tells them. Young people need to tap into their God-given talents to reach worlds they may never have heard of, but found in their own time, in their own way, and with a tool that could help them repeat it if they wanted. leave it for a while, and know that when your thirst for this topic arises again, you can continue through the jungle of life but you will be a leader, the director and the ghost of the past, present and future.
The next time you see a book, take a moment to flip through the pages, stop to rest on a certain page, and take time to relax, enjoy, and be yourself. Put the device on hold, because most of the games, information and comments are not yours, they belong to those who hope to influence, admonish or alter not only you but also what you believe. Your little device doesn’t want you to grow in vision, but to follow its directives. It wants to bypass your creativity and special gifts of imagination and lead you down the path that leads to the conclusion it finds right for you. Just go back to being human, back to being young at heart, back to pretending to be a lion tamer, and go back to charting your own paths, coloring your own landscape, and building on what is such a wonderful part of you: your brain and what it is. can achieve with you in charge.
© Arlene Schindler