One of my favorite movie scenes comes from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where they enter the heart of the chocolate factory for the the first time. I am talking about the 1971 version  with the wonderfully talented  Gene Wilder as the lead.

Wilder breaks into the musical number “Pure Imagination.”  The lyrics and performance of the song is one of those perfect moments in film where human spirit and man’s dreams are captured.

When I am lost in imagination, I come up with the best ideas. It is there that I can find answers to some of my most perplexing issues. I can also escape for a moment from some of life’s harshest realities.  As a young boy it offered me refuge especially when my parents were having extreme difficulties.

Like the song says, in the world of imagination, all things are possible.  It is also in that world that the seeds of man’s greatest accomplishments are born.  We would have never made it to the moon if it had never happen in the imagined world.

In these trying times when everything still seems rather pessimistic, it is good for each of us to regain the wonder of youth and get our “Wonka” on and slip into our imagination.  There are places to still be awed by and answers to be found.  Optimism lies in that world that we can bring back home.  Unlike another movie, we do not need to tap our heels three times to get there, it is truly in the backyard of our minds.

Hold your breath

Make a wish

Count to three…