Anxiety to Imagination

Antoinette Portis' children's book, Not a Box, is a fan favorite in our home. Boys love the box design story, but all kids love the concept of pretend no matter the medium. Sadly imaginations are quickly fossilizing in our screen-filled, Siri/Alexa, instantaneously-answered world. Curiosity once killed the cat, but now, anxiety is her silent threat. Without an outlet for creativity, imaginations quickly turn to fearful frets and anxious worry. It is no secret that an increasing number of our population (both youth and mature) is clinically or self-diagnosed with anxiety disorders. I believe we all possess an innate desire to create, and our imaginations don't cease to exist when we enter adulthood. We have just made it increasingly difficult to use our imaginations for unique and delightful creativity because there's a plethora of already created material right at our finger tips. Thus, our creative minds have become lazy. Pretending we are just a rocket ship soaring to outer space isn't as easy when we haven't exercised that part of our minds in a long time. Whether it's actual paint and brushstrokes, bricks and blocks, or ingredients and words, we all can and should continue to imagine because when we stop playing and pretending, our imaginations turn to darker sides.
Whenever my children are not eating or sleeping well, life seems too fussy and frantic to imagine soaring to space. Instead, I Google, an easy escape to land my imagination on for a time until a real answer proves trustworthy. Unfortunately the answers we receive from others create an anxiety of "what ifs" that rarely prove true. For instance, my number 3 is my great sleeper and eater, and after months of issues in both departments, we are waiting on results of potential parasite. The hard part is that if the culture comes back negative, we have to head back to our GI doctor (not for Levi this time) and start from scratch. Couple this with his newfound issue of "Skeeder syndrome" a fun little annoyance rather than serious medical problem simply due to insect bites. My tired mind wants to search the web for solutions to my poor Ro Ro's uncomfortable problems while anxiously thinking of irregular results. Then, I recall all the problems that Levi and Luca dealt with at birth. I think of the ignorance and bliss I held in many of those moments too strange and complicated to search for one answer. I remember all the times I fretted over my first born's "normal" issues worrying and wondering about his own creative design that simply needed to grow. That's when I pray. I pray for the faith to trust and walk in the tired unknown. I pray for the perspective to remember the little boys and little girls all over the world with serious medical problems. The moms and dadas sitting at hospital bedsides instead of sitting around in boxes. When my desire to create comfort for my children overshadows my ability to play pretend with them, I've stepped into dangerous territory. They sense the frustration and feel the fear.
When worry is knocking at your doorstep because you are desperate for sleep or sanity, revert back to those creative juices only you possess. Become like a child and play. Whether it's reading, singing, writing, drawing, gardening, golfing, or music-making just do something that requires you to imagine and stretch that creative muscle until you are sitting in a box, which is not a box at all. The fun will dissipate the fear. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean NOT on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

These boys are regulars at doctor's offices around our town. As they sat for Luca's intense antibiotic shot (now that the oral meds have ceased to work) they happily enjoyed the "movie seating" together.

The start of summer started us in box imaginations- box cars

Box forts

And Monday Muffin Making

I was begging Levi to try his own therapy homework before we visited our therapy clinic. He graciously put his "strong arm" in his shirt for practice.