Because Christmas has just passed and New Year is around the corner, how about going back to childhood for just a few moments.
For me this means a time when we allowed ourselves to dream, to believe in magical creatures and to be free. We do not do this as adults, not because we cannot do it, but because we think we are too busy or we have the adult reputation to defend. I found that acting as a child and reading or watching fairytales on TV is the biggest stress reliever I know. It’s even better when you have the impression you live in one.
I had this impression when I was in Prague last spring. At first, Prague seems just a beautiful European capital like others I have seen, but after a few days I came to understand its magic. Almost everywhere you look there are stores that have in their windows witches, wizards, fairies, dwarfs, Peter Pans, good spirits, evil spirits and all kinds of fairytales characters. There is one store near the center that caught my eye and it’s impossible to miss. Its window looks as if its owner saw my childhood dreams and transformed them into reality. I could not stop looking at it. And it is not only the stores that create this atmosphere; it’s also the old gothic buildings with their imposing towers and cold dark corners. They even have a festival like a fairytale during the night of 30th of April. It’s the witches’ night and people dress as witches and they symbolically burn the evil spirits of winter in order for the spring to come.
And when I thought it could not get any better, our tour guide showed us a gallery of an artist like no other. Her drawings look like they are from another realm, the realm of a child’s imagination where everything is possible, full of colors and all kinds of creatures. Look at them here and you will understand what I mean. She is doing her drawings with colored pencils and she even has a project that defends them. She is saying that we should use more the colored pencils, even as adults not only as children. The colored pencils bring back the child in us. Have you tried drawing lately? If not, try it and see what happens.
We all have a child within us and allowing him to play once in a while can bring joy and relieve stress from our lives.
I wish you a wonderful 2014 and may all your wishes come true!
