ABSTRACT
I lived as much of my childhood as possible outside of the here-and-now, in a time and place I can only describe as Elsewhere. It was a place that was simultaneously separate from and yet part of the real world, giving me whatever I thought I lacked – superpowers, wisdom, life experience, plucky sidekicks, children to nurture and protect, or situations that elicited the bravery I was unsure I truly possessed. On those occasions when my imagination successfully blocked out the pedantic or even painful aspects of reality, pretend play was the portal to maximum joy, a transcendent state of mind.
