I seem to have developed an emotional attachment to the characters in the Star Wars universe that appears to be greater than any attachment I have with people in reality.

The fact is, these characters exist for me to enjoy. The personal relationship I have developed with these characters is something that has been with me before I could even fathom any type of real relationship with another human being.

Its almost like the relationship I have with my parents.

Against my own will, before I even understood what it meant to have a relationship, I was provided with personal gods-my parents.

Through no action of my own, as a child, the heroes of the Star Wars Universe were presented as an opportunity to escape into my imagination.

I saw their world through my eyes, and subconsciously, I supplemented my own morality, desire for adventure, and heroic traits with their own.

My attachment to these characters is profound because the ability to access them is completely under my control. All I have to do is imagine the characters, and see how they would interact with any situation my imagination presents.

Because the characters have been created through imagination, supplementing them with my own is a completely valid exploration. It is just as true as the original films because the movies, and the characters, are fiction.

Fictional stories seem to come from the ether of creativity; a source of light and inspiration for anyone to enjoy, access, interpret, and share. And, in the moment of drafting a story, most writers are just as excited as the audience to see what they’re characters will do.

You can’t do that with real people.

Real people are out of our control, and I am never certain what type of behavior is valid to project for them.

Because people in the real world exist as individual, conscious entities(with their own access to free-will), the projections I create for them in my head are completely open for interpretation and are always wrong.

For example:

I can sit here and imagine how my mom would respond to this sentence:

“Mom, I am gonna quit my job and try to live completely dependent on strangers, friends, and family while I finish my book and develop Thoughtopsy”

Moms response (In my mind)

“Why would you do that? Are you feeling ok? You can’t…Adam, that’s completely irresponsible…”

I am assuming the above sentence is what my mom would say, and it is probably pretty close to reality, but it is not fact.

Given the real situation, if I actually approached her with that statement, there might be countless ways she could respond. She could laugh, thinking I was joking. She could feel concern, thinking I was in a State of Psychosis again. Or, she could completely ignore me, ask if I’m hungry, and cook a 3 course meal of Macaroni, Meatloaf, and Mashed Potatoes….

All of these options are plausible.

Generally, I am able to predict the tone or feeling I’ll get in response to the things I say or do, but there is always a variable of unknown. A lack of control, or prediction, for anyone I know in reality.

We will never know how we look through other peoples eyes, and we will never be able to predict how people will respond to our own presence.

In a world that is constantly changing, adapting, and responding to our behavior, I truly treasure the stories that are ours to interpret within ourselves.

We are never wrong when we project the characters from Star Wars, because they exist in a place between reality and dreams. They exist in our imagination, and they are ours to have forever.

From My Minds Eye to Yours

Written By: Adam Abramowitz