Monday, April 26, 2010

I fed my house guests bark and leaves



"I was a little Girl
alone in my little world
who dreamed of a little home for me

I play pretend between the trees
and fed my house guests bark and leaves
and laughed in my pretty bed of green."

~ Priscilla Ahn

I didn't write that poem, but I know that little girl. She was me. I played in a garden beside our house just far enough away from the yelling and screaming.
And in that garden, with encouragement from the weeds, stray dandelions and sea breeze, I learnt to imagine things bigger than myself. Dreams.
I learnt to imagine dreams.

The only time I play in gardens now is with my little boys, but I haven't forgotten the imagining.
Sometimes if I get stuck for words, stuck in my writing or stuck in my living I remember that little girl.
She didn't need anything more than bark and leaves to dream. 

What about you? Where did you learn to dream and how do you get back to that place if you need to?

19 comments:

  1. I know what you mean. The times I remember the skies and the trees so vividly were the times the material world was the loudest. I hope I never drive my children to this, but I hope they still learn to love the gardens for their beauty and inspiration.

    Michele
    SouthernCityMysteries

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  2. I don't remember much...but I did have a girl fort in the backyard. I would pick the string beans from my mothers garden and eat them in a bowl with water and cheerios on a table made from a crate. Wild mustard flowers filled a jelly jar vase and I was more at home there than anywhere.

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  3. Oh, I was that girl too! I had these footprint stickers going up the wall in my closet and I used to pretend a secret world lived up in my closet and those footprints belonged to a magical troll who would come visit me in the middle of the night. I even convinced my younger cousin at one point that it was true. :)

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  4. ...with my grandmothers old tableclothes tied around my neck for a cape, and jumping off stone walls and pretending I could fly.

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  5. Sometimes I wish I could transport myself back to the days when no tv, video games, or internet existed. I loved playing on dirt piles, making tents in the basement and using my imagination.

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  6. I'm still that little girl! Magic is everywhere.

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  7. Oh thinking about my childhood and those dreams.... have two ways of looking at it... the nostalgic one... and the disappointing way I used to feel, that nobody loved me...

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  8. Tabitha, what a beautiful post. I was a little girl who changed schools every year. Books became the playmates I wanted, friends to turn to when invitations slid into every desk but mine (or so I thought).

    Since God whispered for me to write in 2005, I have just tried to follow His prompts. He tells good stories!!!

    During the down times, I remember that jog, when I clearly heard in my soul, "Isn't it enough to write it for Me? Isn't it enough, Dear One?"

    It is enough.

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  9. Thank you all for your comments and for visiting my blog. I am glad I am not the only one who remembers being that little girl :)

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  10. Oh, I love all the imagery in that post. My imagination was my best friend when I was a little girl and I took it everywhere.

    There are no physical places I can think of that let me dream but I have ones from my imagination. My particular favorite is a sunny patch of earth beneath of canopy of trees, green everywhere and endless calm.

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  11. Oh, I've missed your blog! I'm so glad to be back. That poem speaks to me too. I grew up in the country. Nature still inspires me on a daily basis.

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  12. I was a version of that little girl, too. I have strong memories of turning flowers into gowns for fairies and hunting for wild strawberries. Nature is still the place that offers me solace and inspiration. Just this morning driving by a marsh I usually see ducks in, I found it occupied by four egrets. Magical.

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  13. Maybe not the bark, but certainly the leaves. We had our little pretend picnics in the backyard complete with leaves and sticks. We had club meetings in our treehouse, and mystery adventures inside the barn across the street. We baptized all our puppies and kitties. The ideas just kept on coming. When I sit myself down in the chair every morning, I try to connect to that little girl who had nothing but time and space to fill her dreams. I, like you, were hiding away from the things that went on inside my own house, Tabitha! Yesterday, apparently, was hug an Aussie Day, so here's one coming your way!

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  14. I started to dream in the night. When most of the world was safely inside. Or asleep.

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  15. the right combination of books and boredom led to a dreamer's inner life

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  17. I didn't really start dreaming fully until I was in high school. I was a creative writing major and our teacher taught us how to dream and explore through journalling, reading and poetry, etc. From there I never looked back. Although there has been years here and there that I didn't dream or write at all. A wonderfully written, thought provoking post.

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