Imaginary Friends

[Ostria]

Okay parents, so a little help here. My son is 4, and recently started talking about his friend named "invisible". Dont know if thats his name or the fact that he's invisible he wants to let us know why we cant see him. Remember, I wasn't raised a witness so imaginary friends are a normal part of kids growing up in the world (But so is Christmas, Easter, etc). He's an only child and has no family members around his age (And the ones closest to his age are about a 4 mile drive away). Is this something that I should still just let it phase out? I do remember my grandma (non witness) saying that imaginary friends were just demons, her explanation for when I had them when I was a child. I was apparently possessed lol...

[Is56v12]

I was brought up in the Truth and at about the same age or so had an invisible chimpanzee friend …. As my mum wouldn’t let me have a monkey for a pet. (No idea why not!)

I vividly remember talking to it walking to school and in school it misbehaved a lot!

I don’t remember my parents having that much issue with it, and i guess i just grew out of it at some point. 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Ostria said:

imaginary friends are a normal part of kids growing up in the world

I think it’s normal in the truth too. No reason to think it’s demonic. Quick search says not to worry until like age 10 unless the child is distressed or confused about reality 

[Áine]

I had an imaginary friend as a child my mother even had to set a place at the table for him… there was nothing demonic about it, I was just lonely and being bullied 

[ChrisW]

I had a whole imaginary other life. Where I was a famous singer and dancer. I had given myself a different name.    Granted, i was emotionally and physically abused. So it was my escape. 

[Ostria]

thanks yall, makes me feel better to know this is normal in the witness world as well.. Sorry if the question seemed a bit stupid/silly, lots of things i thought was okay then turned out wasnt

[Tortuga]

24 minutes ago, Ostria said:

thanks yall, makes me feel better to know this is normal in the witness world as well.. Sorry if the question seemed a bit stupid/silly, lots of things i thought was okay then turned out wasnt

Even adults have imaginary friends. Have you actually met anyone here?

Who is going to believe that you talk to a turtle? 

Edited April 23 by Tortuga

[careful]

i had an imaginary friend and so did my daughter when she was little.  Its normal.  

[careful]

as a spinoff on this topic....why is it cute when kids have a vivid imagination....but as an adult it seems that if you ever openly express something thats not really fact  but you want it to be....people get judgy and tell you to be realistic and stop living in a dream world?????????????

[Áine]

22 hours ago, Ostria said:

thanks yall, makes me feel better to know this is normal in the witness world as well.. Sorry if the question seemed a bit stupid/silly, lots of things i thought was okay then turned out wasnt

No such thing as a silly question 🥰

[truce]

7 hours ago, careful said:

as a spinoff on this topic....why is it cute when kids have a vivid imagination....but as an adult it seems that if you ever openly express something thats not really fact  but you want it to be....people get judgy and tell you to be realistic and stop living in a dream world?????????????

Or they conclude it must be some mental illness 

[dljbsp]

I didn’t know we were supposed to get rid of our imaginary friends. Or even those imaginary moments.

 

There’s whole threads in the forum where people are sharing about them—growing up with one, or having a little mental world to escape to when things were tough. And not just as kids. I think some of us still carry pieces of that, in different ways. (They don't call them imaginary friends, but they talk about them like they're real you know, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chewbacca, Han, Luke, Leah, . . . Andy, Opie and Aunt Bea, Wally and the Beaver . . .)

 

I cried at the end of Old Yeller. Still remember it. And yeah, the dog never really died. But in the moment, it did. In my head, in my chest, it happened. That kind of stuff gets stored in us like it was real.

 

Funny enough, we’re told to imagine the New World, right? Our loved ones alive again, peace all around. If anything, those are “imaginary moments” too—except they’ve got a promise behind them, so they’re even more solid.

 

I’ve never been in an earthquake, but sometimes when I’m lying in bed, I pull the covers up and wonder how I’d react if the building collapsed. That’s not fear exactly, just… awareness. Shapes in shadows still catch my eye. Not scared of the dark anymore, but I notice it.

 

When I say I lock the door and check under the bed, I don’t actually do that—just kind of an expression. Means I still go through little routines to feel safe. Always have.

 

Just adding—

I do live with mental illness. For me, that’s never included imaginary friends or seeing things that aren’t there. That’s not how it affects me. And if I ever did have imaginary friends, I think they’d be okay with that part of me.

 

Edited April 25 by dljbsp

[Tortuga]

6 minutes ago, dljbsp said:

And if I ever did have imaginary friends, I think they’d be okay with that part of me.

Yes we are...♥️

[dljbsp]

Just thinking a little more about all this—

I realize now, yeah, I did teach some of my imaginary friends the truth. I mean… they needed it. Some of them honestly got me into trouble, so it felt like the right thing to do.

 

But now that I’m thinking about it, most of them—probably all of them, really—they’re not gonna make it into the new order. I mean, I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried.

 

Problem is, I can’t exactly convince the service committee that they’re making progress. It’s hard when, you know… they don’t show up for meetings. I’ve come up with a bunch of workarounds over the years, tried to explain it different ways, but somehow, it’s just not the same.

 

So then I figured, maybe I needed to start over. Make up some new imaginary friends who already are publishers. You know, ones who could just… slide right in. But then those ones needed to get baptized too, and then… well, now I’ve got a whole second layer of imaginary friends just trying to keep up. And it just—it just spirals.

 

Honestly? It gets a little exhausting after a while.

Maybe—maybe it would’ve been easier if I’d just said goodbye to the whole bunch of them a long time ago. Probably would’ve saved a lot of paperwork too.

 

Truth is though, I don’t really spend much time with imaginary friends anymore. Not like I used to.

 

My wife, though… she’s another story. She’s a huge sports fan. Her imaginary friend is the TV. I mean it. She’ll be yelling at it, cheering for it, giving it advice like it’s gonna change the outcome.

 

Sometimes I hear her and, without thinking, I say, “What, dear?”

And she says, “I’m not talking to you.”

And then—then I’m just standing there wondering, What did I do now? 😅

 

I’ve even taken her to live games, thinking it might scratch that itch. But then she thinks the people on the field are her imaginary friends too. She cheers like they can actually hear her.

 

And you know what’s funny? Sometimes the players wave back.

They can see their imaginary friends—they just don’t really know who they are.

 

Makes you think a little.

Or maybe I just need more sleep.