A typical day at the park consists of the sound of children laughing, squeaky tire swings and more. But this park was deserted. Nothing more than paint chips with rusty equipment barely standing – a child’s wasteland.
I stood up to brush away the sand on my shins; my knees were still dotted with indentations from the grains. The wasteland had become a kingdom so fruitful with castles and a horizon as endless as the imagination – a kingdom of sandcastles.
I believe in sandcastles.
I strive to live with an open mind waiting to be filled with the knowledge the world has to offer. I aim to live with an open heart waiting to be filled with love from people I have yet to meet. I want to use my imagination to see the world.
My imagination allows me to view the world as what it could be, not as what it would be or how it should be. It gives me potential to see the “what ifs” in a world that only says “what is”
and to tell the world that I believe in sandcastles.
We must fill our pails with the sand of hope and the water of faith to bind our castle together. When we have completely overwhelmed ourselves with the wishes and devotions of our imaginations, only then can we flip over our pails and reveal our finished sandcastles – our testimonies of hope and faith to the world.
Sandcastles are planted in the mind and grown on the Earth. It is through our imagination that we can foster hope for those that have lost sight of their sandcastles.
Without imagination, all that is left is the harsh reality of a wilting world with peeling paint and rusty playground equipment. Imagination gives us hope. I believe in sandcastles because I believe in hope.
Alanna Phillips is a freshman majoring in health sciences.