I saw Inside Out the other day and Riley's childhood imaginary friend, Bing Bong, reminded me of my own.
I didn't have a lot of friends as a kid. She was everything I wanted to be: emotionally distant, strong, courageous, respected. There's something comforting about having someone stand by your side, no matter what. I craved that. I've become her in some ways (though I'm still not 8 feet tall, mute, and half cat) and gained a lot more self-respect, but sometimes I still think of her. It took a while to clue in that she was an "imaginary friend" - I never played with her, but just her presence (in my head) helped with the loneliness of growing up.
So Hubski. Who was your imaginary friend, if you had one at all? What were they like, and what impact did they have on you?
[Must ... resist ... urge ... to share ... pic of Jesus]
I never had one. Hmmm, maybe I was the imaginary one?
Nah. Never had an imaginary friend either. We could both be weird, though.
Elisza is my imaginary friend's name- the same has my username (pronounced Eh-lai-sah). In my mind she represented the best part of me. Tall, skin the colour of ebony, as lithe and supple as a panther, jet black tresses the colour of night, Elisza is supremely confident in her own body and not at all shy, confident and very, very beautiful. Wise, but rarely voices her words; acute in her observations and always watching, guarding me. Serving as my second voice, the best part of who I am. She is very rational and logical, mother like in her attempts to guide me to a more successful future, but sometimes very firey and for some reason, always nude. She does sometimes tease me about how even though it's my imagination, I blush when I look at her directly and always end up averting my mind's eye. Perhaps it's a fantasy; but still, I like her quite a lot and wish I could be like her one day.
My friend was Theo-Theodore. He was maybe eleven, black, and was in some ways a wise, kind, and endlessly loving version if Theo from The Cosby Show. I still think about him sometimes; actually I kind of think of it is checking up on him. He's still there, knocking around my head. He was a teddy bear, and safety blanket, that was in my head. No one could take him away.
Oh man, I had a zombie in my closet that would kill me if I turned off the lights and didn't get 100% under the covers in an instant. But if I was successful (and I'm alive today so I was totally successful every time), then he would just come out, sit on the bed and talk. He looked a bit like this.
Sorry, I can't say I remember. It was over 20 years ago now. Probably trying to convince me to get out from under the covers to see what he looked like (which would, of course, expose my head and then he could kill me).