Imagination, Fantasy and Reality: A Look from Child-Adolescent Psychology

What, then, is the Link Between Imagination- Fantasy-Reality?

Global and emotional intelligence develops on the basis of a critical analysis of the reality that is perceived, and that -as is obvious- only happens through direct contact with the real, objective world, which requires of subjectivity to be reflected in the human brain; or with other words, the objective and the subjective integrate philosophical and psychological categories, which are in an intimate dialectical relationship, because they are presupposed, they are not excluded, and therefore, they cannot be separated or divided, as some authors have claimed.

Reality is perceived through the senses, it is what identifies the cerebral cortex, since the visual sense of an infant in the first stage of development can be easily deceived by images that show fantasy as if it were something real; Hence, in order for the child to build his mind on solid foundations, he must have real experiences perceived through the senses.

On the other hand, many adults hold the mistaken belief that they contribute to developing children’s fantasy by teaching the «little ones at home» to accept as real facts, objects or situations that are only distorted reflections of the outside world.

This false belief increases and reinforces with the excessive use of the small screen and digital technology (Internet, mobile phones) before the age of six. In this regard, Dr. Susan R. Johnson [7] establishes the correlation between the general sensory impairment suffered by the child and the deficit in psychomotor development, which affects the ability to concentrate, when exposed -indiscriminately- to the small screen, the Internet and mobile phones, just to cite the most significant examples.

A «little prince» who lives in a «fantastic world» is constantly scattered, «manufactures» non-existent worlds or situations, away from concentration and feeds false perceptions that lead to a distorted reasoning of reality, which -of course- makes it difficult or hinders the intellectual, emotional and spiritual development of the child.

Based on the above approaches, which I accept because they are supported by scientific evidence, one must intuit the fact that the boy who uses his imagination to create or seek solutions to problems in his environment is a supposedly healthy person, and one must do everything possible to keep that imagination alive, since that is where creativity is born and grows, which plays a decisive role in the intellectual or other work that, as a man or woman, will develop in the not too distant future.

For child and adolescent psychologists, imagination is a power of the mind that makes it possible for «Ismaelillo» to venture beyond what is visible or concrete, which opens the doors to creation, in its broadest sense. Imagination is part of reality, since it helps us to create, awaken the mind and nourish the spirit. On the contrary, for the followers of the line of pedagogical thought traced by Dr. Maria Montessori regarding the subject at hand, fantasy is dreaming, and from it, we cannot create, even if it allows us to «fly, dreaming» or «building castles in the air», with our feet not well placed in existential reality.

Motivated by Marti’s aphorism that «a child inspires me with two feelings: one of tenderness, for what he is, and the other of respect, for what he may become», our task as adults is to help the child write his personal legend, as well as fostering the right environment that seeks to guarantee not only his bodily integrity, but also to protect his psyche and soul, because-from positions consistent with humanist psychology- we defend the indissoluble unity of body-mind- spirit [8].

An education, based on this psychological principle, and based on reality, prepares the individual to face life with self-confidence and spiritual strength. I would not like to finish these reflections on the imagination-fantasy-reality interaction, without first expressing my opinion about these three essential elements, which-in no way- should be perceived as «isolated pieces» of a «puzzle», but rather as an all dynamic and functional, in which its three fundamental components play an indispensable basic function in the sociocultural context in which the «sovereign of creation» moves.