I read somewhere that children have a different concept of time than adults do. For a child, time is either now or later. They very much live in the now (present), and later, is a very nebulous concept that only becomes "real" when that later becomes now.
Many of us have probably had bedtime stories read to us about animals of many kinds that can walk and talk, or fly, or both, stories about gallant princes and beautiful princesses living in far away lands, stories about magicians and witches with magical, mystical powers, etc.,... stories in which all things are possible. Many of them beginning with the words: "Once upon a time......."
For children, "time travel" seem not to be an issue...whether listening to a story, or watching one on a screen, children seem to be able to just "Be There". Perhaps, for a child, "time" is more of a "liquid", malleable kind of concept rather than a static, hours, minutes and seconds, kind?
Of course, once a child starts school, "real" life starts, and so does "real" time.
Slowly but surely, the child learns that time comes in increments, and that it is very important to learn and understand those increments because a human's life revolves around those.
Time is no longer "wake time" or "sleep time", now or later, rather, time is fixed and what a person does have to be done according to that fixed time. A child also learns that time never goes backwards, only forwards, and armed with that knowledge many of the stories previously "real" and possible for the child, now become fantasies and therefore impossible.
Luckily for mankind methinks, there are many humans who somehow manage to keep alive their ability to view the world with the eyes of a child. People who challenge established concepts and constructs and ask: but what if?
What if time could move backwards? What if time is not what we think it is, but something else?
What if some things we deem impossible could be made possible with a different approach? What if some fantasies could become realities? What if something we view as unsolvable could be solved with a different perspective?
Through the eyes of a child, horses can fly if they are unicorns....a horse can fly, if it is on a plane.
Through the eyes of a child, Santa Clause is real..... a person wearing a Santa Clause outfit is real.
Through the eyes of a child, magic is real......... a trick performed by a clever magician can often appear very real to most of us.
Through the eyes of a child, stuffed toy animals can speak........ a stuffed toy animal with a recorded voice inside of it can speak.
Through the eyes of a child, princes and princesses are real........Harry and William are real princes and Diana was a real princesses.
Through the eyes of a child, time travel is possible..... when we fish up an old memory, do we not travel back in time in our minds?
I have a feeling, that if there were not people who just like children ask: "yeah, but what if?" it is quite possible that I would not be able to write this sentence right now.......
"If we could all see the world through the eyes of a child, we would be able to see the wonder in everything." (Citizen Z)
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