Are Imaginary Friends an Alter Ego or an Extension of the Subconscious?
After reading Jay Ellis’ book Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me)? I traveled through vignettes of my childhood, searching for any remnants of an imaginary friend. To my great discovery, I found nothing. Either I had long forgotten my imaginary friend or my home was simply too crowded with the thoughts of my four siblings and parents for there to be space to conjure up a new friend.
Despite coming up empty-handed with zero recollections of an imaginative figure, I found imagination embedded in stuffed animals, insistent imaginative play with Barbies and G.I. Joe figures, and the theme park we turned our home backyard on Wessell Rd. to with the yellow-red little tikes coupe — due to all the dips and holes the size of moon craters sperse throughout the yard. Through Jay’s research, this form of imaginative play is not too far off or different from the “imaginary friend”.
I present the question of whether the imaginary friend is an extension of the subconscious or some outer body alter ego, after reading about Jay Ellis’ adventures. As he and his imaginary friend Mikey got in and out of trouble, the way Mikey embodied all the coolness and wisdom that Jay thought he lacked, and how essential Mikey’s presence was to soothe Jay’s only-child loneliness while also comforting him through grief and traumatic incidents.
You can purchase a copy of Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or just me)? by Jay Ellis from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop, or anywhere else books are sold.
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