The Realism of Fantasy: How Reality Helps Cultivate and Inspire The Fictional World

Verse of the Day: 1 John 2:6 "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

When we think of fantasy, the first things to come to our minds are probably in the realms of Narnia, the isles of Neverland or even the halls of Hogwarts. Places that can only exist in the world of our greatest imagination...or so we have made ourselves believe. What if I told you that it is the very foundation of what we see as normal and mundane that feeds into the mythical worlds we know and love? I'll be breaking this concept down into three parts today: Nature, Architecture, and Space. I want you to see that the world of dragons, heroes, galactic warriors and talking dolphins isn't as far from our world as you may think. Fantasy and reality are not enemies competing for our attention, they are partners in the creative process.

1. Nature

Go outside and look at a tree, I mean REALLY look at it, do you see something

familiar? the texture of the trunk, how the branches reach up towards the sky like arms , the veins that run though it, navigating water through its body, how it's leaves look like hair, how it's existence once started as a seed in the belly of the Earth....We have a lot in common, don't we? We ourselves are the image of the God that made us and we reflect the Earth he created. Fiction and Reality have a similar relationship, What is real is needed in order for that which is not to exist (we were created from the mind of the Lord! isn't that beautiful :'))?. Fantasy isn't the absence of reality, it's an altered mirror of it! It's so beautiful and harmonious. Keep looking at that tree and imagine it with a face....give it a soul, give it a story and you have the DNA of a Fantasy adventure in the making.

Examples of Nature inspiring fantasy: The land of Narnia, Pixie Hollow Tree in Tinkerbell, The Hobbit, The Ocean world of Finding Nemo, Cloud Kingdom in Winx Club

2. Architecture

   The Great Pyramids of Giza, The Great Wall of China, The Colosseum, The Library of Alexandria, All incredible feats of the human hands and it's progression in the art of ingenuity. Now close your eyes and picture the pyramids being home to some of the most high tech equipment of the century, cleverly hidden away

   beneath the facade of something that is ancient. Imagine the Wall of China rising out the ground and realizing it's nickname, "The dragons back" wasn't just a metaphor but a living, breathing thing that had been sleeping for years. Imagine opening a book in the Alexandria only to be pulled into it, and the only way out is to solve the libraries riddles and mysteries. In Avatar the last Airbender, there is a secret library hidden out in the desert that hold all the greatest wonders on it's shelves. What years of blueprints have crafted in our day to day lives, have made room for realms of kingdoms in the world of make-believe.

Examples of Architecture inspiring Fantasy: Hogwarts Castle in Harry Potter, The Pyramids in the Sumeru Desert in Genshin Impact, Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz

and The lost City of Atlantis, Kings Landing in Game of Thrones

3. Space

   "To infinity and beyond", The existence of the cosmos have inspired readers, artists, writers and admirers of the skies since the very beginning of time. Space has been one the greatest sources of wonders and the creations of some of the most epic fictional stories of the decade: Star wars, Star Trek, Gaurdians of the Galaxy, Interstellar, and E.T to name a few classics. When you look up into the night sky, you're not just looking at specs of star dust, you're looking into the very heart of creative inspiration, cloaked in the robes of the heavenly bodies.

   Examples of Space inspiring Fantasy: Pandora in Avatar, Tatooine in Star Wars, Asgard and Eternia

So you see? No matter if we wander the halls of Hogwarts, fall down the rabbit hole into Wonderland or take a galactic journey towards the Death Star, we are never as far away from reality as we may think. Fantasy does not replace what is real it transforms it. Every magical kingdom, distant planet, and mythical creature carries traces of the world that inspired it. Reality provides the foundation, imagination builds upon it. Together, they remind us that the line between the fiction and reality is not a wall, but a bridge.

"For the love of life and the pursuit of the arts, stay prayerful and write on."