What is Real? Gina Emerson

WHAT IS REAL?
By: Gina Emerson


As we began our first day of class we discussed such issues as what is real and how do we know it is real. How do we determine what is real? Let us begin with our childhood. When we were young we were introduced to the notion that there was a Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and even a Saint Valentine that came bearing gifts on these special occasions. We also had the tooth fairy who left a small token under our pillow for the loss of our teeth, and who can forget The Sandman who helped us to sleep. Someone had the wonderful task of taken away our childhood friends when they deemed us too old to believe anymore. What was at one time very real to us is now just an illusion. What is real?

The stories our parents and our grandparents often times told were comforting and in our eyes so believable; however we grew to learn that these tales were just that –– tales. These awesome tales brought so much hope to those who believed they had none, and strength to those who felt weak without them. Why would these people who we trusted and depended on lead us into such a false sense of hope? Was it an illusion? What is real?

Can we only believe that which lies before us? Are we blinded by that which we cannot see? Can there be a place that exists beyond our imagination that returns us to the comfort of our childhood? Can the very thing that keeps us going be there very thing that holds us down?

When we forget the things that matter to us most we often times lose sight of our own ability to dream. Life’s ambitions do not include family or friends because we are just too busy. What matters to us most is to succeed; however, success does not stop the drive for more. We are often time so concerned with what others think of us that we live denying ourselves true life. When is the last time we smiled from the heart? When is the last time we embraced life with arms wide open? Does youth still hold our true happiness through myth and lost friends? When does this illusion called life become a reality called myth? Could our dreams be held in limbo between the primary and secondary worlds? And if it is, could this place be called Faerie? If this is so…can you take me there?

What is real?...