Fantasy - Life 101 lecture

Fantasy - The faculty by which the mind forms an image or a representation of anything perceived before; the power of combining and modifying such objects into new pictures or images; the power of readily and happily creating and recalling such objects for the purpose of amusement, wit, or embellishment; imagination.

I can honestly say I am disappointed that I had to go almost to the bottom of Dictionary.com's result page for the word before I found one that didn't belittle or insult the reader. It would appear that "fantasy" is hardly any more than a means for fulfilling a psychological need or being grounds for unacceptability. Most of what I found first were words like unrealistic, improbable and false. I won't disagree. Fantasy in its very nature is a step outside of reality. But so many negative words to explain what fantasy is gives people the wrong idea about what it is all about.

As Americans we love our entertainment. I did a study once and found out that Americans are more likely to share a movie with one another than any other object of importance. So the concept of fantasy is not foreign here. We are a nation of Movie Watching, Music Singing, Book Reading, Cartoon Loving, Video Game Nerding, Role Playing, Dreamers. Fantasy is the ability to look beyond what exists before of us and to think it up a brand new way. Someone must have dreamed of cars running on Corn. I do remember there was a time traveling car that ran on... was it Beer? There was a stoner who told me once that there's this car that runs on water.
But Seriously.

Fantasy, while a documentation of what could be, has the opportunity to make changes for the betterment of all. Robots were a big "idea" in the early age of the previous century. And here I am saving my pennies for an Asimo. True she won't be nearly as witty or fun as Rosey, but I plan to make the most of having a tiny space woman to converse with in Japanese. My own personal Asimo Fantasy is to have her lurk around at night, in the dark when I have guests over who didn't know I had a robot. Does that sound a little twisted? Well then you know what fantasy can be. It's a modification of reality for personal fulfillment, either manifesting itself physically or only mentally. Just the idea of the situation fills me with so much amusement that I receive what I need without actually having to scare little children.

But that is what fantasy is all about. Taking an idea and running with it. Letting it take you to the bounds of your imagination. Letting yourself float into the primordial ooze of your own intelligent mind to think up something as asinine as rocket powered contact lens cleaners. They really cause more damage than they do good. But the next invention of my amused mind, the giant Visine bottle, just swept that poor girl back to Japan in a torrent of saline solution. And let's not forget Plaid girl who, like all super heros, fell into a vat... of Plaid. Her arch nemesis, Plate girl, who attacked with paper plates while Plaid girl fought with tartan socks stuffed with other tartan socks. For your knowledge, incase you ever need to know, the best way to Take down a girl with a plate for a head is with a bouche de noel. Seriously, knocked her flat. OH and we can't forget Super Escargot Homme who saved the little ones from "Mehcant Sel." (En Englais: that would be Super Snail Man vs Evil Salt, a comic I was asked to make for the Snail Day celebration since I was always drawing in class)

These are just some examples of the places I let my mind wander to. And each one yielded a smile, a laugh, and often notoriety. Not like I was in it for doing any more than to cheer up people around me. Documenting my silly fantasies was nothing more than a platform to save people from the bland, boring, depression of everyday life. The ideas came from my head were never meant to be stuck in there. Fantasy is for releasing into the great blue yonder. It is like a balloon, just waiting to be set free into the open sky. Let it go and watch it capture people's attention, their wonder, and watch as fantasy brings joy to the most down trodden of individuals. Share in the fantasy with the ones who mean the most to you. Play, Think, Dream. Let your expression run wild. See where that takes you and how it changes the way people look at you.

So my fellow DnDers, LARPers, Otaku, Manga-ka, Local Bands, Artists, Designers, You the Creators, Let it all out. See how far the hot air takes you. When you come back down, we'll all be waiting to see what you have seen.
Dreamers, inspire the dreamers.
Lovers, bring back the lovers.
Youth, keep on living
And then tell us all about it.

Homework: Do you have something silly, something crazy and creative, something outlandish that has come out of your head at some point? I'd love to hear about it.