As an adult, I have this sense that everything, even "play time", must have a purpose. That is, dancing is okay, because it's a cardio workout, produces endorphins and exercises the muscles. Chess is an appropriate board game, because it exercises the brain. My greatest challenge today is to return to that childlike state where playing, for the simple sake of playing, is okay.
What has just come to my intention (I had meant to write "attention", funny...) is how much of that "play" has become my current reality. As a small child, I was bored with everyday games, so when my friends and I would get together, I'd make up my own games and teach it to the other kids. Somehow, they found these games fun and insightful. I used to pretend I was a writer/detective, scoping out the "bad guy" through my super sleuthing and then writing my memoirs. At times, I used to pretend I was a teacher and some mystic healer.
Now, I create workshops that adults find fun and insightful. I research and write articles on everything from community events to food to yoga (I only scope out my own internal demons or "bad guys" these days), and now teach people how to heal through yoga. These are only a few examples of how my pretend world as a child have shaped my current reality.
Which means that my castle, kingdom and ability to fly should be here sometime soon. :)
I'm curious, what did you imagine as a child, and how has it shaped your current reality?