What I learned from a bowl of cereal.

When I was about 9, my grandfather gave me a slightly antiquated wooden treasure chest with old, brass looking hinges. It was the heaviest treasure chest I had ever come across (probably because the only treasure chest I had ever seen up to that point was the not-so-magical, but very plastic one at the dentist office) so I was convinced that it had to be "authentic". My belief in this particular treasure chest's supernatural qualities was unshaken. I imagined that it most likely came from somewhere deep beneath the sea. Definitely from a place where mermaids slept in huge oyster shell beds as they carried on conversations with other under water creatures that were so extravagant looking, not even Disney characters could take them on.

How I viewed my surroundings was very similar to how I viewed that treasure chest, at least as a child. Everything seem so magnified, obviously because I was small. The doorways in my grandparent's house seemed extra big, it always seemed like it would be forever until I could finally look out the window while taking a road trip, and Hello Kitty and her friends at the Sanrio store held the key to my happiness. It was that simple, these represented my youth's perceptions, deepest concerns, and definitions of happiness. Boy, was I happy when I could fit into a pair of high heels, I didn't have to wear the cheap hot-pink ones that only came in the Toys "R" Us brand; it was time to move on to the over-priced-because-they're-blister-producing Kenneth Cole's.

Isn't that how it is when you're young? You can't wait until the Fruit Loops change the milk's color from white to psychedelic I-don't-know-what, but you don't want your cereal to get soggy at the same time. Then, to top it off, Life pulls up a chair right next to you at the breakfast table and says "That's just the way it is! " without even pouring you a glass of orange juice, and you respond by saying, "So much for a balanced breakfast, pal! ". Yep, and right about now I'm just beginning to open my (thank God, not cavity infested from all that sugary cereal) mouth, not for another tasty spoonful of rainbow colored Os, but to make that same exact disappointed declaration.

Well, I'm not that bitter all the time, but it happens to the best of us.

These days, when I go back to visit my grandparents, everything is so much smaller than it used to be. It almost amazes me. Now it's like I can hold all of the beliefs from my childhood in the palm of my hand as I closely examine all the tiny details under a microscope of knowledge and experience. I realize that there never really was treasure in that treasure box, despite the fact that I wanted it to be true. I realize other things too, though...

I had this perfect view of my family. There were so many things that were shielded from me as a child, but there were also things that my ignorance shielded me from fully seeing and understanding. As the cliche holds, ignorance is bliss...but it's temporary. Every year, I see more and more details, I can hold more things in my hand; see more things under that microscope, even when I don't want to. At the same time, and this is true for many of us, life was not easy for me growing-up. I had ways of coping with difficulty so that I could hope for better things; I used my imagination as a tool to keep me safe. But there were also the definite realities outside of my imagination that encapsulated my hope for the future as they became the pleasant memories from my past. They were the times when I became familiar with something beyond what my imagination could offer, love. Each of those moments was a genuine treasure, and I collected them like pearls as they held together the necklace of my true happiness.

Isn't it fascinating how good memories serve to strengthen us when we're suddenly taken back in time by another memory we'd rather not keep? Our childlike imaginations can only shield us from so much, especially when knowledge unveils the truth. Even our imaginations cannot create something truly sustaining as hope and love, only an experience can allow for that. But we have to let the cereal get soggy in order to see its magic work on the milk :).