Imagination

"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there you'll be free if you truly wish to be" Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

From Pinterest.

    Remember when you were a kid and all you did was play for hours, just based off of what was in your head? A stick was a gun and you were a war hero, a hairbrush was a microphone and you were Madonna (well at least I was back in the late 80's). All you had to do all day was play and that was it. And when you played all you had was what was in your head. I see my kids do it everyday. Imagination is what made those childhood memories seem so sweet, and amazing. There are times now as an adult that I wish that I could go back in time. Life was so much easier as 8 year old Erin then it is as 31 year old Erin. I question myself though; when did I grow up? What period in time did I lose my pure imagination?

   I adore the movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", as a child I wished that I could be Charlie Buckett and live in a chocolate factory, with the edible candy garden, flowing milk chocolate river, the amazing gobstopper room, the oompa loompas and all the rest of the fun filled rooms in Wonka's factory. I wanted to live there because let's face it, a home with rooms of candy and mischief around every corner is every child's dream (though now a days you may want to throw in a few X Box's, Playstations, kick ass computers etc.)

    Now, though, I wish I were Willy Wonka. He was weird, yes and obviously he had some off the wall ideas (the lick-able wall paper and the shrinking machine?) But he had imagination. Willy Wonka transformed his home into his ultimate dream land, sparing no details and staying fun and jovial. Shall I even say childish while doing it? He was happy living his life being the consummate candy maker living with the little Oompa Loompa's. Though I may differ with Wonka on a "perfect life", we do agree on one thing and that is, never let go of your imagination. No, maybe the average person can not have a flowing chocolate river in their living rooms, and from all accounts I have read there is no such thing as Oompa Loompas, but the spirit the creativity, the imagination what Willy Wonka represents to me as an adult I try to keep it up.

    The other part of the lyrics is "Living there you'll be free if you truly wish to be." Being able to let go of life's expectations of what you are supposed to be and start living your life filled with imagination and wonder that is when you'll be free. But, it is your choice and no one else's. If you are a bitch in life, be the bitch, but do it honestly. The same goes if you are the nice person, be that nice person 100% of the time. Do it because that is what you want to be. You are the writer of your autobiography, no one else. Don't let anyone else dictate how your story is going to be told.

   When it comes down to it, if at 31, 47, hell 89 you still want to pick up a stick and play war hero, or a microphone and be Madonna, than DO IT. Do it because you are staying true to yourself, to who you were meant to be. We lose a lot once we leave our childhood behind us and step into adulthood, the sense of innocence disappears, and with it goes our imagination. The one wish I have for myself is to recall my imagination, and imagine a better life for myself, since the one I have been living has seen a lot of curve balls. Because once I do that, once I use my imagination, living there I will truly be free.

And so it starts...

From Pinterest.

     Let me introduce myself, I am Erin. I am 31 from New Jersey (NOT New Joisseeyy) I am a mom,and an all around good person. Though I have had my tumbles in life, I now embrace everything that I have gone through as life's lessons, and let me tell you life is a hard teacher.

     For years and years I knew that I would be a writer one day I was a writer, I have always been creative in that way. I may not be able to draw or paint or make things out of clay, but I can write. It has just been trying to narrow down what I want to write about. So I figured, recently, that I know me and I have had an interesting life with life's lessons so I decided to share. Now, I am not professing that I know everything; in fact I can be clueless sometimes, but I want to share. So, it may be a meme or a gif. A poem or a quote. Or a story or a joke but I am going to share.

     To get back to the meme that I posted, I am a fat girl, bigger girl, heffalump,plus sized,ham planet, Erin. I weigh more than most women my age, I have struggled with my weight FOREVER (cue The Sandlot jokes here). I never was the small girl that has always been the image of beauty since I can remember. I recall as far back as second grade and being ashamed of how I looked. This feeling of self loathing and being second rate to those that were prettier had a lower number on a scale than I did has been there since the early 90's. I hated Erin. She was fat which automatically transferred to lazy, being a slob, ugly, not worthy of love...and the list of negativity could go on and on. But then, one day I realized that a number on a scale, or the fat around my waist, or the jiggly arms or the fact that my thighs don't have a gap in the middle, doesn't mean anything.
 
    Yes I understand that being overweight is unhealthy, I also realize that being a "Big Beautiful Woman" isn't every one's cup 'o tea. BUT it does not make me ugly. My size does not define me. My character my personality, all those things trump my fat. My caring nature and loving spirit make me Erin, my fat is just something I have.

    I think that it is about time that we stop fat shaming people, especially us females. It is time to embrace who you are no matter what extras you have. I have fat, maybe someone else has moles, or gray hairs, or a crocked nose. All those things are things that we have not who we are.

   Self acceptance is the first thing you need to become happy. Be acceptable of who you are, no matter what label society tries to throw at you. Be confident, radiate a smile. But above all love yourself and the rest of the awesomeness will just fall into place.

Me. glorious me.