Let your imagination run wild with me
Last week, following my tinned-sardine-fuelled-write-a-thon in Porto, I returned to Lisbon, and somewhat gratefully, to the company of friends.
Before I set off on my travels last September I’d been worried I might feel lonely on my solo adventures but nothing could be further from the truth and I’ve made some wonderful new friends in pretty much every country I’ve been to.
I first came to Lisbon back in February for the launch of the Portuguese edition of my novel, The Storyteller of Auschwitz. I met some lovely people at the launch and have stayed in touch with them via social media since, so when I returned last week it was the perfect chance to reconnect.
An artist friend took me out walking all over the city, stopping off for the obligatory pastel de nata in the most beautiful bakery I’ve ever seen - and as regular readers will know by now, I’ve seen a LOT of bakeries!
The next day I met another new Portuguese friend for breakfast in a tearoom dating back to the 1800s.
After breakfast she took me on a tour of Lisbon bookshops, including a second hand bookstore that was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
The window display was the first clue that we were in for something a little ‘different’...
As soon as we stepped inside we were hit by that wonderful aroma of books, which like wine, seem to smell better as they age. We began browsing around and after a few moments I noticed something - dotted amongst the books were the most random things.
We made our way deeper into the store, giggling at each new bizarre discovery, and then came the piece de resistance - or what my friend named, ‘The Cabinet of Crazy Curiosities’.
Tucked away between the bookshelves, a glass cabinet stuffed to the brim with the most eclectic assortment of things.
A bust of Jesus looking suspiciously like he was wearing lipstick. A flamenco dancing doll. A teapot-shaped clock. A very angry looking owl.
‘Imagine if they came to life every night,’ I said, ‘No wonder the owl’s looking so irate, they’re all trapped in there with no way to escape.’
And off we went, riffing on what might happen at night in the cabinet. Perhaps Jesus was wearing lipstick to make himself look more appealing so that someone might buy him and save him from his glass prison. Maybe he’d borrowed it from the flamenco dancer.
It was so much fun, and we spilled back onto the street in fits of laughter.
‘I feel like a kid at Christmas!’ my friend exclaimed and we talked about how, when we were children, we used to believe that our toys came to life at night, and how much more joyful life is when you see things through the eyes and imagination of a child.
It was an important reminder that we always have agency over how we see the world and what we choose to believe, and just because we’re adults we don’t have to be jaded and cynical.
There’s a lot of chaos going on at the moment and it’s all too easy to feel overwhelmed with the weight of it all.
But now any time I feel the heaviness start to descend I’m going to remember the Cabinet of Crazy Curiosities and I’m going to choose to believe that we live in a world where toys come to life at night, and tucked away amongst the dusty shelves of a Lisbon bookshop, a flamenco dancing doll is lending Jesus her lipstick.
If you’d like to join me on my flight of imagination I have a fun little exercise for you - think back to something fun you used to believe as a kid, or a make-believe game you used to play. Something that made the world seem like a more magical place.
I’d love to hear what it was so please feel free to comment or reply to me.
Wishing you all a magical and imaginative week!
Siobhan
PS: On the subject of having fun and being imaginative, I’m so excited to share that I’ve just launched a writing coaching service called The Writing Adventure, which is all about helping people overcome their blocks and fears, write from the heart and make their writing dreams come true. So if you’d like some help with your writing - whatever you want to write, be it fiction or nonfiction, books, online content or business copy - I’d love to hear from you. Simply click here to find out more.
