There she sits, dreaming up names for her heroes and heroines, her villains, and her trusty steed, or car, or spaceship. She dreams of an endless space, full of wonders, delights, and dangers she can’t yet fathom. The train that is her imagination has not yet departed for such reaches, frontiers, and fantastic outer spaces yet unknown.

The reality she lives in so often bores her hyperactive mind, causing her to drift through space and time as an observer of life’s not-so-obvious nuances. Perhaps, though, those nuances are only in her mind. You could call her perspective fresh and unusual; yet she feels anything she comes up with in trying to convey her observations is nothing but trite and pedestrian ramble.

Rather than being caught in a never-ending cycle of frustration and disappointment, it becomes a much better option for her to dream of outer space. She sets off on an endless journey of discovery within the limitless confines of imagination. That vast frontier beyond the stars and planets has myriad possibilities. After all, our imaginations can carry us only so far on their silver trains to distant places we can barely comprehend.

Like many kids, my imagination was active. But mine was on overdrive. I spent endless hours playing in my room, creating vivid and fantastical worlds out of everyday objects, like my blankets and stuffed animals. My imaginary worlds were at once exciting and terrifying; they provided me with a wealth of experiences I could never have in real life. As I grew up, I realized the only way for me to share these adventures with others was to put them in writing.

But, for whatever reason, I struggled to put my vast imaginary universe in writing into any form I deem acceptable. Even if I don’t become successful at becoming a world-renowned science fiction author, that doesn’t mean my imagination will ever slow down. If anything, sometimes my imagination foresees possibilities by exploring other potential universes that could exist. This is a talent that has gotten me out of more than a few tight scrapes in my topsy-turvy life.

There’s something magical and mysterious about getting to write your own universe from scratch. Yet, in trying to write my own space stories, they end up feeling derivative. Nowadays, I focus less on the exploration of endless imaginary spaces outside of our own world; instead, I try to bring my focus back to earth for just a bit. Still, it’s possible I simply should let my imagination out of its cage a bit more. I need it to roam free, creating strange new worlds like I did when I was young. The trouble was that while I myself started small, my worlds never did.

Where will this journey end? The short answer is no one knows. But like all good journeys, it’s only exciting if you don’t know where you’re going. So, ask yourself: Where do you want to go? What do you want to learn? How do you want to grow? Don’t focus on your destination; after all, in space, there’s both nothing and everything to see all at once.

~ Amelia Desertsong