Nostalgia
Sometime I think that I was born in the wrong century. I was watching "Anne of Green Gables" the other day, and I cannot describe how much I want to jump into the TV screen and become part of that world. I love the romance of it and how simple things were.
We live in a society that is entirely dependant on technology. We have forgotten what a true lazy afternoon can be like. Without the TV or the video games or the computer or the phone or the car, you name it, there is nothing to do. I have always dreamed of living in a little town back in the late 19th century where a lazy afternoon means walking through the forest with a friend to go visit your neighbor that lives 2 miles away. Laying by a river or going ice skating on a frozen pond in the winter. At night time I would sit by the fire in my cozy little house and read a book or play the piano, or write in my journal.
Granted, all those things can be done in today's society, but it would not be the same. All around you would be the fast-paced world screaming at your door, reminding you that life is not near as simple as you are trying to make it at the moment.
I have always wanted to wear pretty dresses everyday, and that would be the norm. Parties meant small orchestra's that would play enchanting music while you would waltz around the room with a man that knows what manners are and knows how to treat a lady. The doors are always opened for you, you always have his arm and he is respectful to the core.
Things like drug abuse, domestic violence, delinquent kids, the fear of keeping your door unlocked at night, fear of car accidents, fear of walking home alone at night, noise all around you all the time; that wouldn't be there anymore. At least it would be greatly reduced.
"Anne of Green Gables" is the perfect setting for me. The scenery is just ridiculously beautiful and Anne spends her days walking to and from town through the apple orchards, sitting down by the water reading poetry and meeting with her "bosom buddy" Diana where they dream of parties and men and imagine, imagine, imagine. That's what I think we are missing today. We have lost the capacity for that kind of imagination. What do we need it for? We can turn on the TV and see just about anything we would want, we can immerse ourselves in a video game that actually makes you feel as though you are there. Imagination has become for only the smallest of children, and that is quickly diminishing anyway.
I am a romantic down to my core. I fantasize about that kind of world. I think that I would thrive in it.
posted by Jenny at
1:13 PM
2 Comments:
I disagree with your conclusion that imagination has been replaced by technology. Imagination CREATED technology. To a large extent, I think that we manifest what we imagine. Humans have imagined what flying would be like since the earliest days of our species - and we can do it now. People in the colonial territories and England of the late 1700's wondered what it would be like to instantly communicate with a person in England instead of waiting for a ship to carry a paper letter over a month-long span. Now we can download any instant messaging service, use a phone, or send a fax and live what others only imagined.
Regarding video games - the entire reason I love them so much is for the EXACT same reason you love to watch Green Gables - my imagination makes the virtual environment of the game enjoyable. My imagination allows me to write my own story with some games today, including the one I am playing right now.
As for non-technological imagination, when we were flying to California, I looked out over the clouds and imagined floating through them or running on them as if they were solid enough to support me. When I was a kid, I used to spend hours of every single day in the back yard with my dog pretending to be and do all sorts of things.
I don't think imagination can go away. I think it is as inherent in every human being as the instinct to survive.
My opinion is somewhere in between Jenny's and Dalton's. I don't think imagination has been obliterated, but I also don't think it is as healthy as it was even twenty years ago. Yes, video games can create a basis for imagination. But I contend that, because of the advance of video games and toys that do fifty million things, kids don't have to create their own situations in which to pretend. While babysitting kids of different ages, it has become apparent to me that many kids believe that they require the fancy toys or video games in order to be "playing." They're much less likely to go outside and just play "pretend." So in that way, yes, I think that imagination is at least being diminished, if not replaced, by technology. We won't even get into how society keeps making it less popular, and more difficult for kids to remain kids as long as they can.
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