Small Tangent off-topic ("rabbit trail"): I'm always afraid that people will think I'm boasting or trying to puff myself up (see previous blog post about my fear of what others think and their approval of me), but I certainly don't intend any of this to come across that way. When I discover something about myself or about what the Lord is teaching me, I want to share it with others for two reasons: first and foremost, I want to share what the Lord is teaching me in case it might help someone else! Secondly, because I, like most folks, want to be known (that is to say, I want to be understood). For me, I find it easier to express myself in writing. :) I believe the desire to be known (understood) comes directly from being made in the image of our Creator, who desires most strongly to be known and understood by us! Our life is about our relationship with Him and our relationships with others. << end tangent >>
The three "worlds" to which I'm referring are as follows:
1. The real, actual world (actual physical reality - visible, tangible, factual), which most people see, but which I apparently see in "high definition."
2. The spiritual world all around us (actual spiritual reality, but invisible, not always tangible, still factual), which only some people see and understand if they are walking in a close relationship with the Lord. Seeing this world is in direct correlation to your relationship to God - He permits you to see as much as He knows you are prepared to see. I see this world so long as I am seeking the Lord through His Word and prayer and fellowship with other Christians. I start losing sight of this world any time I start focusing on myself or things other than God. The closer I walk with the Lord, the more "high definition" I can see in this world, but only as much as the Lord permits me to see. I'm glad He keeps some things hidden because I know we wouldn't be able to handle it if we could see and understand everything that He does.
3. The fictional world (not physical reality, but many other "possible" realities with visual and tangible elements that temporarily seem real), which most people don't see but which my mind usually sees with as much clarity as the real world when I choose to turn this "lens" on. When I have this lens on, new things appear and real things become what they are not - sometimes changing shape, taking on more shape, becoming exaggerated, or developing a story that they didn't once have. Because this world is the "odd ball out" for most folks, it's the one I want to try to describe to you here.
When I turn the "fictional world" lens on in my mind, the real world through my eyes is much more than normal reality with some occasional daydreaming! To use some cultural references: how I see the world is like how J.M. Barrie sees the world in the movie Finding Neverland, or like how Edward Bloom does in the movie Big Fish. There are many other movie media examples for this, but these are two of my favorites. If you haven't seen these movies, I recommend them! :)
As you can somewhat tell in the trailer above for the movie Finding Neverland, J.M.Barrie sees things with his imagination as if they are really there even though they are not. Ultimately, I think that's what makes a great fiction writer - the ability to fully believe in (even if temporarily) a fictional world around you in so much detail and intensity that you can recreate the world with words so that others may join you there (again, temporarily). That is why I love creative writing; that is why I want to write for the entertainment of others (though I need much practice) -- because like most writers, I want to perfectly describe the fictional worlds that I see so that others can experience them too through reading even if they don't experience it during their every day life like I do. I want others to be a part of it! My dilemma: finishing my stories! :)
Life seems richer or more colorful when you not only see actual reality, but you also see a dozen possibilities! Here are a couple of examples of what I mean by "life is richer." My husband and I like to go hiking and that has been one of our favorite activities since we started dating. During the time we have been married, we have also gone hiking with my sister Tiffany, who is a wildlife biologist, ornithologist (studies birds), and an environmental educator in the Smoky Mountains. She has taught us how to identify flowers, trees, birds and bird songs, lichen, salamanders, and many other things. We're still beginners compared to her, but now when we hike by ourselves, our experience is so much richer because we have a greater knowledge and better understanding of the natural beauty around us!
My husband tells me that he's read about how people in some other places in the world have more specific words to label more specific shades of color, so people in those parts of the world are actually able to see more color, or color on a whole new level, than we are! Likewise, musicians are able to hear all the nuances and each specific melody, harmony and part of a piece of music or song that makes the music seem much richer to them than to the non-musician who just hears the song as a whole. More in-depth knowledge adds a new "flavor," so to speak, to life. (More knowledge can also, by the by, add more sorrow to life.)
It is similar when experiencing the fictional world at the same time as the real world and spiritual world. Seeing new things that don't actually exist or seeing new fictional possibilities with things in the real world adds a new "flavor" and depth to life. Because I love nature so much, many of the things I see in the fictional world often involve nature somehow. Here's a small glimpse of ways my mind sees a fictional world in addition to the real world:
A simple doorway becomes an arbor, a secret tunnel, or a grand double-door entryway. Two intertwined trees become lovers embraced forever. The creaking of the cafeteria table at my elementary school becomes an entire hidden factory of miniature creatures who are hard at work on little machines. A restful nap in my hammock in my backyard becomes a gentle swing on a high mountain cliff overlooking a gorgeous valley. An ocean wave becomes a little hungry sea monster begging for "sand patties." A songbird becomes a character in a great adventure! Every 10th stranger, on average, becomes the inspiration for a new story character. The scent of fresh-baked treats permeates into an opening line of a story. An abstract pattern in my shower curtain becomes a new fictional creature to make appearances in my stories. The opening animated company logo at the beginning of a film comes to life and becomes another new fictional world in my mind. The wind blowing through the trees becomes the trees laughing, whispering, or clapping.
Those are just some examples of how real things become fictional things in the fictional world that my mind sees; this doesn't account for the many new things that I create at random to fill the fictional world. The other part that fascinates me is that not a single thought or made-up thing is my own -- the original thought had to have come from God first, or at least, the components of real things which came from God are combined in just such a way (which God also thought of first) that it becomes a fictional thing that God must place at my fingertips to discover and use creatively. Why would He create me this way? Other than to delight in me, which He so loves to do, and particularly to use toward His glory, I'm not sure of other reasons. Even of these two reasons, I have much to ponder about.
I hope that some of this made sense to you and was at least somewhat interesting! I wanted to at least try to describe it in a blog post, but if I can ever finish all the stories I start, it might turn out better and more interesting for you if I just shared some parts of the fictional world I see through stories. :) Since I sometimes feel a little like Edward Bloom from the movie Big Fish, I'll leave you with a glimpse of the film from the movie trailer.
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