Fire-breathing dragons and magical trees that can talk, that’s exactly what piques my interest writes Cape {town} Etc’s Micayla Vellai. While many people gravitate towards luxurious spa treatments and meditation in order to break away from the pressures of life, I prefer escaping to a different universe, often within my own mind.
While my bookshelf is packed with Classic Literature – Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Virgina Woolf, Ernest Hemingway and Jane Austen to name a few brilliant novelists, I also have a designated, special space for Children’s Literature. Those shelves are filled with colour, interesting illustrations and funky fonts, a warm invitation that says “Read me, right now”.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed and burdened (and it will happen), I often find myself heading to my bookshelf for comfort. There’s just something so liberating about momentarily escaping the world in order to join a character on a fascinating journey where animals can sing and people can fly.
As adults, we tend to lose that ‘spark’, or rather, it slowly fades away because life demands a certain level of seriousness. But when last have you sparked your imagination? When last have you been playful, and silly, for no particular reason?
Children have the ability to unleash their imagination effortlessly – “Run, there’s a dragon!”, “Jump over the lava!” I find it absolutely fascinating how ‘made up’ narratives can be formulated within the mind and executed with such enthusiasm. These little ones can teach us a thing or two about what it really means to chill out.
Roald Dahl said it best: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
So whenever you feel stressed out, try grabbing a book with bright, colourful images and playful words and join those magical characters on an adventure that’ll allow you to forget about your worries, even for a moment.
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