Think for a moment – do you believe in unicorns?
You must be thinking, why am I being asked about something that doesn’t exist? But they do exist and I’m going to tell you how.
People who say that unicorns don’t exist are wrong. Just because you can’t actually see unicorns doesn’t mean they’re not real. They exist in the form of imagination and creativity and no one would say that imagination and creativity do not exist.
Look at all the things around you. You can see the most simple things: a chair, a table, a window. All of these began with an idea. Someone, with imagination, wanted to solve a problem. It wasn’t comfortable to sit for a long time on the floor or on a rock. So someone designed a chair! Someone decided their home was too dark surrounded by walls, so a window was created!
Everything that isn’t created by nature, is created by someone who had an idea. The first steam train was built in the United Kingdom in 1804. The train wasn’t only invented to carry people around. The train was also used to carry around materials to build houses and roads. The car was invented in 1886. By inventing the car, people did not have to go somewhere according to a train schedule. It gave people freedom to go places whenever they chose. These inventions solved many problems for people and their businesses. They all started from someone having a single idea.
The Internet was created in the 1990s. The main purpose of it was to provide easier access to information and communication. This invention has changed the world! Information is now at our fingertips. We can shop, play games and can learn a lot about something just by clicking some buttons on a keyboard. It has created a new way of living for everyone. People from say, Australia, America and Israel can now make connections with each other while they are at home and work. It’s hard to imagine that they used to have to wait weeks for letters in the mail. And this all started with an idea in someone’s head!
I asked my brother, what do you think is the most important invention ever? Toilet paper, he answered. Someone saw a problem, used their imagination, and created toilet paper instead of using plants, the newspaper or even their hand!
There are many ways to improve our imagination. Drawing a picture, daydreaming and even reading can improve your imagination. They can give you amazing new ideas and help you with your creativity. The next time you go out for a walk, look around you. Allow what you see to give you new ideas. Allow your imagination to wander and help you think of an idea or a problem that can be solved.
And most of all don’t let anyone tell you unicorns don’t exist. They’re all around us. In fact, in our own ways we are all unicorns. You just need to imagine!
(This is an adapted version of a speech delivered for the Grade 5 Manuel Gelman competition at Mount Scopus College. It won equal 1st prize)