Do you hear that?

Listen carefully…

Now do you hear it?

NO?!?

Good, I don’t hear anything either. For a minute I thought I was losing it. But if you don’t hear it either, then I guess everything is fine.

Oh, what’s that? You want to know what I’m talking about? Okay, but first I’d like to share something with you. It’s really just a short little story.

You see, it all started at 2:19 am on June 27, 1978. That’s the day it all began; well, for me at least. Right… that’s the day I was born.

I grew up as any normal American child could expect to.

Everything was normal, average, and honestly, pretty boring. At least until some time shortly after my 5th birthday.

What started out as a “typical” day ended up being the day that changed my life… forever.

I really don’t recall much of that day; that is, except this one major event. That was the day….

Wait –  what? You’re still wondering what that noise was that I mentioned earlier?

I would tell you now, but please let me first finish the story about the day that changed my life forever. May I finish sharing it with you?

Great! Yes, so there I was as a five year old and something magical happened. I realized that I had super powers.

These powers enabled me to do things that most grown-ups couldn’t do.

These powers enabled me to fly. I know, I know – sounds crazy. If you think flying is crazy… then I’m a little embarrassed to tell you what else these powers allowed me to do.

Not only could I fly, but I could walk up walls, across ceilings, travel back in time, travel forward in time, instantly appear anywhere in the world, and just about anything else I wanted to do.

I know, you don’t believe my story, and that’s okay. I would, I REALLY would, demonstrate these powers to you, but I can’t.

Somehow, somewhere along the way I lost them. Now all I have is the memory of them.

Look, before you call the psych-ward and request the straitjacket, I need to tell you something even more shocking….

You used to have these exact same powers… the name most people give these powers is imagination.

And if you’re anything like me, you lost your powers as well.

I’ve given quite a lot of thought and consideration to these powers we once held, and what magical evil force slowly robbed us of our powers.

Here’s the best conclusion I’ve reached:

No one, no magical beast, no evil power robs us of our imagination. It’s something we slowly destroy… by our own might.

It’s not that we set out to kill our imagination. No, it’s much more subtle. We slowly strangle it to death…

But at least we have a good reason. To fit in. We don’t want to stand out in the crowd. We don’t want others to laugh at us. What if we stumble? What if we fall?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, our powers don’t die easily. Even in recent days you’ve likely seen a glimpse of your powers trying to come back to life. But rest assured, you quickly grabbed them by the throat to make sure they didn’t take over, and cause you to do the unimaginable….

Stand out in the crowd.

My plea is simple… don’t be a murderer. Let your imagination live. Let it live out loud.

Fine. I was trying to make a point about magical powers… and all you’re worried about is the noise.

That noise was your imagination. It’s trying to grant you magical powers once again.

I say, listen.