"If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up!"

My absolutely favorite thing of today: Finding Neverland. It could quite possibly be one of my favorite movies ever. And it is definitely one of my favorite books. I began watching the movie earlier today and was once again amazed at the imaginative and whimsical quality of it. It certainly got me thinking about our lives, and the lack of creativity and imagination present in them. Why is it that growing up always seems to involve losing our child-like imaginations? Why must "growing up" mean entering into boring and monotonous lives? Creativity must be pooled into acceptable tracks, but even those careers have strict guidelines.

I have no answer for these questions: they're mere general musings. I suppose I am a victim of the modern, unimaginative, ordinary life. My childhood was full of fanciful plays, extravagant dress-ups, and make believe hideouts planted deep into the woods behind my cottage. But alas, none of those things exist in my life anymore. Instead I live in the semi-reality world of college. I know I have to work, I know I can't necessarily change my life will change (even if I really, truly believe), and I know that fairies and pixie dust don't really exist, and somehow, that makes life a great deal less exciting. So why don't we choose to live our lives imaginatively? People are not capable. They think growing up means maturing in all the wrong ways (when in fact people are usually immature in all the wrong ways). The moral of the story is: I hate people. Not all people...just most.

At least I have outlets for my creative angst. I can watch Finding Neverland and pretend for two hours that I live in J.M. Barrie's world, a world in which I am allowed to believe in Peter Pan and Captain Hook and Tiger Lily. I think Walt Disney (a man I draw much of my wisdom from) got it right: "Why do we have to grow up? I know more adults who have the children's approach to life. They're people who don't give a hang what the Joneses do. You see them at Disneyland every time you go there. They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures, and they have a degree of contentment with what life has brought--sometimes it isn't much, either". He's right...if we aren't given much (and most of us aren't) can't we find happiness in a "childish" (though I hate to use that word as it has connotations I don't wish to endorse) approach to life? Can we imagine the rest of it, just as we'd like to see it? Our own little Neverland? I'd like to think so.

My dislikes of the week: Needless immaturity, working from 9 to 1 in the morning, packing (though I have yet to start), not knowing the answers to the Wheel of Fortune puzzles, people who stand in line staring at the person ahead of them when there's another register open, cafeteria food, judgmental people, putting my clothes away, and Literary History being over. Peace out.