Reading the Silmarillion makes me thing back on my childhood and the worlds I would create with my imagination. We all create made up worlds when we are children and think of these worlds as making the world we live in better. Unfortunately, that practice is then squashed as we grow up. It's not that we're not encouraged to be creative, creativity is seen as necessary to be a successful adult. What is removed from us as we grow though, is the ability to believe that what we create in our imaginations is somehow real. Tolkien believed in his created world. It's not that he was delusional and in need of mental help. It's that his world, in the form of Arda, was an extension of himself projected onto the plane of reality we all exist in. The Tolkien scholar Joseph Pearce said something akin to, "reality should be judged not according to how it is, but how it ought to be." Tolkien's creation was how he saw the world as it ought to be, and that is why his world is so believable and so beautiful.
Do not suppress your imagination, let it enhance the world around you.
2 comments:
I absolutely love this post. I find that it is extremely relevant as well as accurate in describing how we use imagination in our lives. I do want to ask you a question, however. So I view Tolkien's world as an extension of his view of our world, not so much an extension of himself. Do you feel that my interpretation is still technically classified as an extension of himself?
Hi Vairë,
This is a wonderful post. Thank you so much for sharing your personal thoughts and reflections. It is likely that many people, not only in our class but around the globe, share similar experiences with you. Adding on to what you said, Tolkien was unique in that he was able to let his creativity flourish and he made a living off of his own imagination. Today, many career paths don't allow for the use of creativity and any worlds that may have been created slowly fade out of existence. We all have an imagination and it is important that we find ways to use it even if society doesn't encourage it.
-Melian
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