Reflection of my Imagination

     Thursday night's lecture by Vivien Deitz was fantastic as it took everything we have been discussing in class from psychology in fairy tales to interpretation of symbolism to the next level.  She has vast experience and training, as I saw from her website (http://www.viviendeitz.com/) and I find her highly respectable and credible, even from the short time I heard her speak.

     Her interpretations of "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" and "The Velveteen Rabbit" were very interesting, do not get me wrong, but it was very much a contninuom of what we have been discussing in class, just applied to new tales. For example, she spoke about the symbolism of each character as well as the transformations the characters made at the conclusions of the story.  What she spoke of that gained my interest the most was her discussion on our shamanic inner child.

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/museum-of-childhood-for-parents-and-children/

     According to Dr. Deitz, everyone has an inner child, a personal genie if you will, that allows us to freely use our imagination we would have from the ages of birth - 8 years old. I questioned her argument at first as I always thought of myself as a child at heart, but when she used her example of drawing a sun I was taken back. She said that children in the shamanic stage of light would draw a purple, green, blue, etc. colored sun when someone older than age 8 would draw a sun in shades of red and yellow. I now know that I am not as much of a child as I thought I was. Eventhough I am imaginative and open to ideas, I would never draw a green sun for example.

     The other thing she did that suprised me is she had the audience close their eyes and we had to go and pick up our inner child. To me, imagination is something I never had to go and 'pick up' it is something that is always instilled in my mind that will become more prominent depending on the situation I am in. I also never thought of my inner child of human form that would sit next to me. The Disney character Figment always represented my imagination and my inner child consequently, as he is a figment of your imagination. Figment is a character that I grew up with in my house and when Dr. Deitz asked us to imagine our inner child, I immediately thought of Figment and his spontaneous and fun behavior.

http://clipart.disneysites.com/display.php?catID=163



     Vivien Deitz's lecture opened my mind to where my inner child really is and that it may not be as imaginative and unique as its potential is.  Although Figment may not truly be my inner child, I grew up with him and he allowed me to open my mind to new ideas and creative expression so although some may think using him as my way of imagining, I believe at this point in my life, Figment helped me, much like Dr. Deitz's imaginary friend helped her. He was always a part of my imagination and now allows me to open my mind much easier that if Figment was not a part of my life.