I didn’t have an imaginary friend, but after reading your story I wish I had. All of your words woven together brings pictures to my mind’s eye. No wonder you’re my favorite author. ♥️
Great post, Susan! I loved that story…I have a version of that story!
I, too, had a “friend” as a child, a rock I called Michael. We were only friends for a couple days. I don’t know what happened that day at St. Thomas, my Catholic primary school, but I walked home feeling mightily out of sorts—not, in itself, an unusual occurrence after Dominican nuns and Jesuits priests hammered heaven and hell into our brains all day. Well, it was only for an hour, during Catechism, first class of the day, but when one spends the rest of the day learning math, science, English and history from women in black and white get-ups with rosaries hanging from their waist, the heaven and hell thing permeates the entire day!
So, I was feeling upset, angry or disconnected (or all three), and I spied a good-looking rock in the street. It was both kickable and likeable. The first kick was the hardest—sent Michael flying down the street. I did that a few times, and then thought, ‘how sad I’m taking Michael from his home and family,’ followed quickly by the sense I might be ‘hurting’ Michael. So, my kicks became softer, gentler. I told Michael I’d bring (kick) him back home the next day. For the remaining 4-5 blocks, I discussed things with Michael. I had anthropomorphized poor Michael into a childhood therapist, a friend…a human-like rock. Next day, I carried him back to his home, dropped him off at about where I’d found him. I saw him a couple times, later, but we just nodded.
Many years later, after my mom died, I began to see her in the clouds. “There’s mom!” I’d say to my wife. She understood: When a white butterfly flutters past in the garden or yard, she says, “Hi Dad.”
The phenomena of seeing faces in the clouds (or if oneis so inclined, the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast), Pareidolia, was first used by German psychiatrist, Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum in his paper, “Delusions of the Senses”(1866). Dr. Kahlbaum thought they came about because of delusions in judgment, so Pareidolia became associated with mental illness usually psychosis and dementia. But in 1895, some French guy named Alfred Binet, a psychologist best known for his pioneering studies on IQ tests, suggested inkblots might be used to study “involuntary imagination.” Bingo! Now Pareidolia might be related to creativity!
And Swiss psychiatrist Hemann Rorschach came up with using pareidolia found in inkblots to investigate people’s personality and assess their psychological state.
Even Leonardo da Vinci got in on the deal when he observed: “…look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones. {Michael!?!} If you are about to invent some scene, you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various things…”
It only took a few hundred years for all of them to catch up to you and your angel and me and Michael!
I loved your story
I had an imaginary friend
I didn’t have an imaginary friend, but after reading your story I wish I had. All of your words woven together brings pictures to my mind’s eye. No wonder you’re my favorite author. ♥️
I’m honored, Regina. ♥️
It’s sad that with adulthood our imaginary friend fades away. I love that you keep her in memories! 😊💙
Great post, Susan! I loved that story…I have a version of that story!
I, too, had a “friend” as a child, a rock I called Michael. We were only friends for a couple days. I don’t know what happened that day at St. Thomas, my Catholic primary school, but I walked home feeling mightily out of sorts—not, in itself, an unusual occurrence after Dominican nuns and Jesuits priests hammered heaven and hell into our brains all day. Well, it was only for an hour, during Catechism, first class of the day, but when one spends the rest of the day learning math, science, English and history from women in black and white get-ups with rosaries hanging from their waist, the heaven and hell thing permeates the entire day!
So, I was feeling upset, angry or disconnected (or all three), and I spied a good-looking rock in the street. It was both kickable and likeable. The first kick was the hardest—sent Michael flying down the street. I did that a few times, and then thought, ‘how sad I’m taking Michael from his home and family,’ followed quickly by the sense I might be ‘hurting’ Michael. So, my kicks became softer, gentler. I told Michael I’d bring (kick) him back home the next day. For the remaining 4-5 blocks, I discussed things with Michael. I had anthropomorphized poor Michael into a childhood therapist, a friend…a human-like rock. Next day, I carried him back to his home, dropped him off at about where I’d found him. I saw him a couple times, later, but we just nodded.
Many years later, after my mom died, I began to see her in the clouds. “There’s mom!” I’d say to my wife. She understood: When a white butterfly flutters past in the garden or yard, she says, “Hi Dad.”
The phenomena of seeing faces in the clouds (or if oneis so inclined, the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast), Pareidolia, was first used by German psychiatrist, Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum in his paper, “Delusions of the Senses”(1866). Dr. Kahlbaum thought they came about because of delusions in judgment, so Pareidolia became associated with mental illness usually psychosis and dementia. But in 1895, some French guy named Alfred Binet, a psychologist best known for his pioneering studies on IQ tests, suggested inkblots might be used to study “involuntary imagination.” Bingo! Now Pareidolia might be related to creativity!
And Swiss psychiatrist Hemann Rorschach came up with using pareidolia found in inkblots to investigate people’s personality and assess their psychological state.
Even Leonardo da Vinci got in on the deal when he observed: “…look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones. {Michael!?!} If you are about to invent some scene, you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various things…”
It only took a few hundred years for all of them to catch up to you and your angel and me and Michael!
/tarra
Love this! Thanks, Tara!!