Imaginary Friends
I have fond memories of my imaginary friend, Workaschmizer. Although I made him up, he was somewhat of an enigma. A permanent resident of my closet, he looked like a black blob. He had a voice and and lively personality but no discernable form. He wasn't really a person... more like an energy field.
In the February 2005 issue of Harpers Magazine, there was an article describing the imaginary friends of six- and seven- year olds. The information was compiled for a study published in the November issue of Developmental Psychology.
Here are some of my favorites from the list.
Rose: Invisible female squirrel, nine years old, brown fur and hazel eyes, lives in a tree in the yard, sleeps in her imaginary house.
Skateboard Guy: Invisible eleven-year-old boy who lives in child's pocket, wears cool shirts and has a fancy skateboard, can do lots of tricks on his skateboard, likes to see how fast the child can run.
Sgt. Savage: G.I. Joe doll who is sometimes an invisible person, 100 years old, Band-Aid on forehead, wears boxer gloves, hair is white-brown, wears pilot jacket. Child likes his shotgun, dislikes his face.
Simpy: Invisible eight-year old girl, blue skin and black eyes, three feet tall, wears funny clothes.
Never had an imaginary friend but I did do a lot of imagining. Perhaps because I have 3 siblings there was always a real person nearby. When I wanted to be alone I would pretend to be a lot of stuff: a truck driver, a banker, a garbage man, a dj, a concert promoter, a motocross racer, a boat captain, a carpenter and much more. We all have our little ways of escaping, I suppose.
FYI: Harpers has very interesting daily posts and a deep archive apart from the regular magazine content. Well worth a daily check and read.
Didn't Workaschmizer have a buddy that lived with him too? I can't remember his name. Can you?