That night a fierce autumn rain storm rages outside and the daughter is sure that the last leaf fell during the night, but, amazingly, when she looks out her window the next morning, it s still clinging to the vine. She regains hope, forgets her death wish and starts thinking about an art project. When she eventually recovers, her mother tells her that the last leaf is actually a painting of a leaf that her artist friend painted the night of the storm. This story impressed me with the power of imagination to heal or to harm. If the leaf had not been painted, the image of the last leaf falling to the ground and decaying would have sent the girl to an early grave.
Children have very powerful imaginations.
A friend of mine recently told me that her son used to be plagued by nightmares. No, she didn t try to stop him from playing the games. She used the imagery from the games to prepare him for sleep. She handed him an imaginary helmet, armor, sword and shield and told him to put them on over his pajamas. He no longer was troubled with nightmares.