(A column for your children or grandchildren, not you…)
Dateline: Imagination
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real.”
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
His name is Fischer, and he fishes, but you can be named Billy or Barbie, Sammy or Sue and you can fish too.
Fischer here holds within his hand one of the magic wands of life, a fishing rod and reel, with every cast he makes there flies adventure, dreams, wonder, fun, discovery.
Under every lily pad is a tiny bit of mystery, a tiny bit of hope, a bunch of excitement as you wait. Is it the right lily pad? Are the fish hungry? Did you send them the right food? In your hands you hold the answer, be it right, or be it wrong.
And those moments of fun, wonder, anticipation and decisions in a tiny way you may not even realize is happening, you are getting ready for the life you face as you grow up.
“But you know happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if you only remember to turn on the light.”
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Do not judge yourself by success, or failure, judge yourself on your dreams. Your dreams, not the dreams of others.
All you can be is you and be all of you that you can be.
Success is just happy, spelled wrong. Substitute the word successful for happiness, chase what makes you smile and success will follow.
Love what you do and what you do will love you back.
“The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you sort of start thinking anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Dream.
Dream while you sleep, dream while you are awake, dream bigger than big, dream fancier than fanciful, dream sillier than silly.
Dream of magic, be not afraid of the unknown, be not afraid of new, never ever be afraid of you.
All that is unknown to us, will be answered by you.
Here stands Fischer, who fishes, he holds within his hand the magic wand of childhood, look for other magic wands to hold in your life.
A scalpel is a magic wand to help someone with.
A hammer, a wrench, a paint brush, a fire hose is a magic wand as well as it will help the community you live in.
But the biggest magic wand of all is, a pen or pencil. Use those magic wands to write down your dreams, your goals, for those are the magic wands that have always changed the world.
Open the door and step out into it, this world of ours, or yours, we’ve tried to save it for you, use it.
It is out here where your imagination will grow, where dreams sprout, where adventure and discovery lie under every ripple or behind every tree.
There is a child named Fischer, and he fishes, but you can be named Billy or Barbie, Sammy or Sue and you can fish too…because the biggest catch of all is what you’ll find within you.
db
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
P.S.: Many thanks to Fischer Lowen, and to his mom and dad, Elite angler Bill Lowen and his wife Jenny for letting me hang out with their son for awhile as he fished a small pond somewhere in Tennessee and who told me the secret of fishing, “You take a worm, put it on the hook, throw it in the water, jerk the rod up and down a couple of times, then bang, you catch a bass.” And so he did.