My mother Linda Usher sent me an email this morning that had me laughing so hard I just had to share it with my fellow hub community (and anyone else who finds this).

It really made me stop and peel away all the things I've learned over the years, the wisdom I've accumulated and just see things with the simplicity of a child's non skeptic point of view.

This email invoked within me the memories of the before. Before I knew what was real and what was my mind trying to rationalize things around me. It made me rekindle memories of a time when "Ignorance was blissful".. a time when Santa clause was real, the tooth fairy really came and dropped a buck for my tooth, and when the Easter bunny who I assumed was working at Hershey's chocolate factory in the off season, would bring us baskets of goodies just for the hell of it.

Do you remember those days when we weren't bombarded with wisdom and knowledge? When we truly could see the world for what it was/is, and our ignorance was bliss?

I think people who end up doing drugs or drinking (to the point of brain extinction from reality) do so (besides whatever other reasons they concoct inlcluding peer pressure) do so because this simplicity is where they yearn to be, if just for a moment. Many connect that bliss from childhood where ignorance was running rampid, with freedom and they think for some reason drugs will take them there.

Where drugs take you is nowhere near this reality. Meditation however can take you all the way back in vivid detail.

In some cases I believe the short cut to wisdom that so many parents boast forth without thinking about what they are doing can cause people to want it more (childhood memories and the experience of that time), simply because they had it but it was short lived. I don't think you should correct your kids at every turn, sometimes its best for them to "discover" the truth, although sometimes it's best to correct them.

Others got to indulge in fantasies practically into their teenage years before they were "schooled" by their friends with proof and innuendo, and these people turn out to have a happier disposition and an active imagination.

Those that got to indulge I think are more relaxed people, less likely to do drugs because the fantasy is still there in its full vivacity, accessible with such distinction that they end up with overactive imaginations, something that in the writers guild is an asset!

Drugs would probably impair their ability to imagine more vividly becuase drugs cloud your judgement, your ability to think and more.

I'm not saying anything bad about parents who don't foster a childs imagination, to each their own, I am just stating my opinion about a way that could possibly make life easier on kids in the future... to give them a sanctuary of blissful memories to return to, they have to be able to create it first.

With my god children Riann and Hailey I used to generate fantasies all the time to do something as simple as getting them to at least try broccoli. One day it was raining outside and lightening was firing at pretty predictible intervals. I pulled the girls from the table and told them to join me on the patio where we could watch the rain, I tried to predict the lightening which seemed to strike a few seconds after the thunder and would snap my fingers.

I got lucky becuase the lightening struck beautifully on time and the girls thought I had powers. I told them I got this power from eating broccoli. After a few shots themselves they couldnt get the lightening to strike (god must have been working with me let me tell you). I said look I'll prove it. I went inside grabbed a peice of broccoli off each of their plates and ate it then said let's go- ran back outside and thunder clapped, I snapped my fingers at the count of 3 and bam lightening!

Their eyes got big with excitement and they couldnt eat that broccoli fast enough.. they went outside and I told them when to snap (it didn't crystalize that I was helping them time it) and hailey snapped and bam lightening struck! Riann tried it too (eventually) and it worked. I justified that she only ate a small peice and that's why it took longer.

I have done several things like this over the years to make learning fun, (they still don't like brocolli but at least they tried it right?). They know now that I was playing with them, I eventually told them after their friends kept telling them they were liying. The funny thing is they still wanted to play the game!

I would use tricks like this to open their mind. One more example?

We were outside walking through an open mall outside, and the wind was blowing at predictable intervals.. yep god again maybe, hehe.

It would blow this bag around and you could almost predict when the wind hit when the bag would move. I did the same thing this time with a water bottle... drank the water, the pretended to blow the bag (from afar) and the wind would hit and move the bag. I used the timing trick again, waiting for the slight breeze that always came just before the big one and when it hit my ears I whoooooossssshhhhh, and low and behold the bag moved.

Luckily we were at the bottom of the bottle of water so I only had to do this with them twice (then they did it twice each)... They were about 5 and 7 at the time now their 8 and 10 and we talk about those things. I make them realize why I did it years later and show them that "Magic" is being able to control your thoughts, and memories.

I think when we stop provoking their imagination like after we tell them about the fairy tales (santa, tooth fairy etc..) their imagination becomes less powerful, but me I kept them going after they discovered the truth with tricks like this. A child has a magnificent imagination that can be used to show them the power of belief, faith, thoughts and so forth.

Kind of makes you want to think back and figure out just when your mom told you Santa clause wasn't real.. or rather who really unlocked Pandora's box and let in all the wisdom that would kill the blissful ignorance that once was?

The thing about experiences, all experiences, is that the memory of them often fades for one reason, the brain stops making associations and stops connecting all the pieces of the puzzle.

Think of it this way. In the room your in right now, take away all but two things, the ability to see and the ability to hear. No smelling, no touching, no tasting (not even the taste in your mouth right now), no sensations (feeling) of your body, lungs, heartbeat etc.. take away all of these things that you think your not conscious of, and that's what a memory is after 6 months, often sooner..

Actually it would be this if you wore headphones over your ears, and sunglasses inside the house. That's more like it. We don't realize how much all that other sensory data accounts for the vivacity of our experience- Until we try to remember a moment.

The time it takes to forget rather dis-associate those other sensory data links from the memory is dependant on the importance the moment had for you. I bet you could sit and within seconds remember the exact taste of your favorite starbucks coffee with very little effort, but try to remember everything around you the last time you went to that starbucks... Is it crystallizing now? What you don't know truly can change everything.

A memory is actually not just one piece of a unit, its several different parts of the brain working holographically to generate what we view as a "moment". Think of one memory, one moment in time frozen, as 5 major leggo's snapped together, maybe 6 if you count intuition as a sense.

Now realize all those senses each have about a billion other leggos connected to them each. Memories become more like the main 6 leggos less 4 of them and those 4 don't have all those other leggo's attached to them either... It's a perverse version of the actual moment isn't it?

This is one reason you should learn to pay attention to your senses, really take in everything CONCIOUSELY. Children do this its why they are so energetic and happy all the time, they wake up completely aware of their 5 senses. We grow up and start to focus too much on thoughts and less on everything else and life becomes work, not play.

What really sucks is that this also makes us remember thing less vividly and the importance not being towards consciously remembering all this data (smell, sight, sounds etc..) and so our memories are less vivid to begin with.. kind of puts a damper on the fun really.

Memories are stored separately for sound, sight, smell, touch, feel, and intuition (6^th). What makes it so real as its happening is that the full brain is engaged in experiencing the moment in all your senses. A memory is only as strong as its network of different senses being a part of the memory. Vivid memories have all 6 senses firing all the parts of the memory from how it looked, how it made you feel, how it felt to the touch, how it smelled and so on. When a memory becomes less vivid its because the part you still remember about it is only one or two senses (usually how it looked and sounded) void of how it smelled, how it felt to the touch and so on.

The reason a tragic memory is so sharp, or even one of deep love, is because it has a lot of associated memories keeping it alive, intense emotional moments are hard to let go even after the moment is gone, its our thinking about them for so long so much with such distinction, it being so important to us that builds those permanent holograms in our mind (anagrams they are called).

When a child is allowed to indulge in Santa Clause, or any other fantasy for YEARS and years, this builds a tremendous amount of associations (happy ones) to the characteristics of the Sigil (a sigil is a sort of physical or intangible object that triggers a set of memories or beliefs.. i.e. if you see fire the fire would be a sigil for fear, worry (of being burnt) and so forth).

So Santa Clause doesn't just represent the guy in the Red Suit, he represents hope, patience, Mystery, and eventually all those things you did (waited patiently etc..) pay off (when you get presents). For parents this started out as a way to keep the kids in line, but it evolved into an incubation of amazing things that help a child formulate hope, belief, faith, patience, and direction!

Incubating your Childs fantasy world helps them when they grow up because although they will realize some day that Santa is not real they will also appreciate that you let them indulge, and all the things Santa helped them build in themselves, mainly Faith in something you never actually saw, These things will be too strong, too vivid in their imagination that even Santa himself couldn't shake those beliefs and awareness's.

Although santa will be attached to all those good memories by association those memories will also have their tentacles buried into other things not relating to santa i.e. being good is rewarding, christmas time (not santa) means fun fun fun... and so on.

Throughout the rest of the year children apply these principals subconciousely to things having nothing to do with santa and this solidifies them and anchors them to something else, this is why santa not being real won't shake the foundation just a small insignifigant part of it, yet later in life they will appreciate the fantasy anyway and will bring it back into the fun.

It also gives people a place to revisit when things get tough, an escape back to a time when you believed in something without real reason, which prompts people (I know it does in me) to think well if I could do it then, I can do it now.

The thing I think about is not the moment, the belief itself, more so what believing in that inspired inside me, how it motivated me, and how although it was an unrealistic belief, it was enough to trigger my own ambition!

We should always incubate our children's imagination, and let them feel that time for all the bliss it is. I believe if we did the following less people would turn to drugs and alcohol later in life simply because they would have their own memories to inspire them and allow them to "escape" without any thing but meditation... Also I believe there is a connection between people having a hard time meditating and this telling kids too early that the characters like Santa Clause are not real. Let me explain.

I think many times we interrupt that time of belief, to say, no Ruth, god didn't invent the stapler, man did. Seems simple, were just trying to make sure our kid doesn't grow up stupid, or heaven forbid they tell other kids who know the truth that god invented the stapler that god didn't invent it (then the kid calls her stupid for not knowing). I realize the reasons we do these things in fact I caught myself doing this as well until I realized something. Some things can wait.

Things like this (who really invented the stapler) can wait, as well as Santa clause, and the Easter bunny. The thing about these simple things is that they will not be scared (as in injury not fear) because you didn't step in and tell them the truth, it will come out in time as they get older when they really need to know this. If that kid calls them stupid they will learn tolerance and then you can tell them the truth and this gives you the opportunity to teach them to tolerate others unkind acts and forgive them.

For the really young kids, a healthy fantasy of Santa Clause, or that god invented EVERYTHING, can be enchanting and can incubate that powerful childhood bliss long enough that when they do grow up and know the truth they will not only know the truth, they will know that you let them fantasize just a little bit more and the memory of that time is more solidified in their memory banks as it has more experiences to keep it vibrant to them. Every little thing that reinforces "God's power" helps them to understand faith.

My mother had a powerful guilty feeling every time she told us about Santa Clause, or the Easter Bunny, or even the Tooth Fairy, and she gave away the secret "truths" when we were incredibly young.

As children we had to fight with our friends to debate that Santa Clause didn't exist, vs. just joining them in the "what if" moments. My mom did the right thing, rather her intensions were pure, but I've told her time and time again she really shouldn't have ruined it for us that young (I think we were 6) but it took me a year to really believe her anyway.

she didn't want to lie to us, but I also think she simply didn't see it for what it was, it wasn't lying it was preserving our childhood and allowing the magic of our young unadulterated minds to flourish.

Childhood is like a training ground for our future ability to relax, to let go and go somewhere where we can still run through the fields of fantasy. It is a time when we develop the ability to simply "believe" in something we cannot see touch or feel with our 6 senses... it is a training ground for "faith" and in reality I believe that allowing us to believe in the Santa Clauses, The Tooth Fairies, and the Easter bunnies, is a way to reinforce that God is real as well by proxy of him also being something you can't experience with your 5 senses (well you do with intuition) directly.

Not to get religious on you because I'm anything but religious, but I do believe in a more powerful force governing things. My "God" is the unity, the everything, the one, etc... I'm more Buddhist than anything else in my belief format (I do pray to "God" like everyone else, usually when I'm really in trouble lol) not a specific entity in the heavens(more like an entity that is EVERYWHERE at once not in one focal point in the heavens), but for the sake of my explanation I will solidify my point in the way that most people view this "torch barer" known as "God".

My beliefs may be a lot like yours the only distinction is I don't believe religion is required to have beliefs or to walk with the all mighty. In fact I've attended every type of church I've ever come across and my beliefs follow a piece of each different religion, I believe they all have something to share, no one can quantify the whole that is "my God" (some may not agree and I respect your beliefs, these are just mine).

A child will rationalize without question that if Santa clause exists then so does God. Sure you may as an adult rationalize that well what happens when they realize that Santa Clause was just a figment of their imagination.

Will they then turn and say Maybe god is too?... Not really, because although my mom told me Santa Clause wasn't real and even after all these years of wisdom and awareness, I can't help but have this piece of me that says...

What if they were wrong, what if this Santa Clause was a manifestation of all those billions of people believing for years that he did and what if by some magical process of manifestation Santa Clause was manifested on some other plane and DOES visit in some way spreading joy and touching souls like an angel does making you "feel" good around Christmas. What if the reason it only feels so magical around Christmas is because that's when everyone is in sync with the whole Santa Clause belief, and billions of children are magically bringing the forces into being because they truly believe in his arrival?

Jesus said, belief makes it happen, I mean the man walked on water simply because he believed it possible right? Maybe not one child's devotion to believe in Santa could do it but billions? Think of the power there? My imagination is pretty fertile as you can tell.. but I'm manifesting everything I want in my life too so you should think about that for a moment. Call me crazy but I'm happy, living the life I want... are you?

What if the power of Christmas cheer is a very real thing and the reason we all feel so wonderful around Christmas is because some angelic being took on the Santa Clause cause and touches our auras around that time, installing hope where it is void?

What if....

It is a powerful phrase. I don't believe anything is impossible and I continue to live my life as if there are no true boundaries, just things we haven't scientifically proven yet!

Ehum back to the kids belief in god when you tell them Santa isn't real...

The reality is God will have a little more proof of his (or her) existence through sheer faith. As faith in God becomes strong children differentiate God from the fairy tales simply because the fairy tales "magic" becomes known (mom bought those gifts not Santa) but gods magic, well how are you going to account for that? Mom and dad aren't that powerful are they.

Its all pretty cool to think about, but my point here is Let the kids believe, incubate their imagination, all those imaginary friends, imaginary fairy tales (Santa, Easter bunny etc..) are healthy, especially in their development of faith, in persevering when there is no proof of success, and it builds a sanctuary they can revisit to powerfully lift them back when reality becomes overwhelming.

Why would they turn to drugs when they can turn to those blissful memories that they can actually feel as if it happened yesterday? The more they incubate these things as a child the more vivid they will be, the more vivid they are the more they will access them and "feel" them in their entirety, the more they do that the more happy people they will be.

You could justify that what they are feeling is "God's Love" and any way you put it, it is, but god works through us not towards us... Memory is one of God's gifts, what we do with it after we get it is dependant on us, as free will was the other gift.

With that thought I want to share the email I got, which was mostly pictures. I hope you enjoyed this hub, but more so I hope as parents it made you think twice about how you deal with your children's overactive imagination. I'm not saying that they should still have imaginary friends or believe in Santa after they are 12 but before puberty/prepubescent stages, you should let it ride....

Once they go through the change... if their friends didn't already tell them go for it... but you will find that their friends will tell them before you have to.. this is a good thing, then your not the bad guy who killed Santa! Haha - Get it?

I normally don't like those "Pass this on to ten friends" things on these emails but this was just too cute not to pass on to my 367 friends+ via my hub portal... Hope I inspired some smiles and laughter by passing this on.

p.s. You don't have to pass this on but you can if ya wanna.. :) haha hehe

Have a wonderful day and keep your imagination Humming... You never know what will inspire you to write a hub... I woke up not expecting to even look at hubpages today (lots of work to do) and this email inspired this hub (so thanks mom)...

Jerrico