When Unreal Becomes Real
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
One of my favorites, and the only toy I still have from childhood, is my Chattanooga Teddy Bear. He's virtually fur-free from so much loving. I must have been rough with him, because he has a big scar down his spine. My mother performed surgery with tiny, delicate stitches to replace his stuffing.
I was about 3-years old when my dad brought Chattanooga Teddy home from Tennessee. Dad was a pilot and used to make trips all over the country. As a surprise, he would come home with toys for each of us. Somehow this little fellow became a symbol of my dad's love and I carried him around with me almost everywhere!
.jpg)
This is me, at age 3, expert "real" maker.
Children make the best teachers, I'm totally convinced! I love being around kids. I still haven't quite grown up – I LOVE children's books! My favorite author is Madeleine L'Engle… oh, and C.S. Lewis! J.R. Tolkien, too. Okay, don't get me going…
Whether we are adults or children, we can all create our world. As children we called it "Make Believe" and everyone thought it was a game. But what if "Make Believe" is how the world really works? After all, we must become like children to even enter the Kingdom of God!
As I intentionally "make believe" today I put my focus on my dreams instead of my fears. I focus on what is beautiful and true and lovely. What we focus on increases.
One of my favorite books is The Velveteen Rabbit. It's simple truth is powerful enough to change your circumstances.
“What is REAL?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day… "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.
"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
What is real?
To this day, when I pick up Chattanooga Teddy Bear I still feel my dad's presence, even though he died when I was 17-years old. It still gives me a sense of security, just holding his not-so-fuzzy little body. He became "real" due to the love and security my dad had given me. Somehow little Chattanooga had soaked in all that love and still resonated the same energy.
What is real? I have some dreams to 'make believe' until they come true. Do you? I want a little piece of heaven here on earth. For me, praying has taken a new, delightful turn… as I focus on the reality of Heaven, and I pray it here to earth.
So, I ask you, my grown up friend…
Do you have a favorite toy? Today is "Show 'N Tell"!
Go ahead. Grab a photo. Write down a few words. Tell your story!
Your story matters!
What you care about shows who you are. It's part of your legacy!
Another friend of mine has this amazing M&M collection. Toys and collectibles… showcases of M&M things. He's a missionary and was thinking of selling his collection in order to have more money to buy necessities for the poor. I looked at him and said, "Erv, this is part of your legacy!"
There are some things you just have to keep… they become symbols of something… of whatever it is that made you happy when you bought it or received it as a gift.
What makes you happy? Do you have something in your house or yard or storage shed right now, that just looking at or touching it makes you happy?
Take a picture, write a note…. Capture the feeling!
My Full Story What I Believe Contact Me
With all my love,
Sue
Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate to freedom and fullness.
Today Susan helps abuse survivors write their life stories, unearthing the treasures of their past and sowing them into the future, creating new family legacies.
Copyright © 2010 to 2016 Team Family Online, All rights reserved. For reprint permission or for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Everything you can imagine is real. ~ Pablo Picasso
I am really enjoying your blog Susan! This got me thinking of some of my favorite things/toys from my childhood. I had a small brown bear that was very ratty and worn out by the time I was done with him but I still smile when I think of him. Another favorite was the Little House on the Prairie books. I still like reading them to my kids. I think it brings back memories or a longing for the simpler times.
I know that one of the things that takes me right back to being a kid is legos. One of the greatest things about being a dad is playing with Legos with my own boys!
Do you take pictures of their creations, Matthew? I treasure the photos of what my kids used to build with their creations. They loved having their photos taken with what they created!
Susan, yes, things do become real through years of loving. As far as I know I did not have a favorite stuffed toy but my mom-n-law saved my husband's teddy bear and gave it to us after we were married. He has been very loved like yours… not much hair left… but the memories of my husband have become my memories as well. My favorite books when I was growing up was the Bobsey Twin series… it always seemed they lived and experienced so many fun and exciting things. Precious memories and dreams.
The Bobsey Twins! Oh yes, I remember that series and loved it! How precious that you have adopted your husband’s cherished memories as your own, Pat… that is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This is so much fun! We have moved around so much that we lost a lot of things along the way. But there a re a few of those things that when we pick them up they bring back a lot of memories, good ones. My son still has his first stuffed animal; it's hair is gone in many places. But when we see it and we pick it up, we all see him as that baby with that stuffed animal and we always say something about it..it was soo precious to all of us. This was a fun reading, thanks Susan!
Good memories to have, Olga! I can just picture you as you moved from the Netherlands to the US.. and now you’re in Canada… you’ve done a lot of moving! Do you feel like you’re settled in British Columbia now? It’s such a beautiful land!
{ 4 trackbacks }