Imaginative & Weird: Still Allowed, Still Awesome
#shelsilverstein #poetry #goodbookrecs #inspirationalquotes #quoteoftheday #motivation #creativity #curiosity #knowledge
“Invitation” by Shel Silverstein is a short, playful poem that basically throws open the door and shouts, “Hey weirdos, dreamers, and magic bean buyers—get in here!” It's all about imagination, creativity, and storytelling. Here's how it goes:
Invitation
If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!
This poem has always felt like a big, warm hug for anyone with a curious mind or a slightly wild imagination. It’s one reason I love Shel Silverstein (see Where the Wildflowers Grow from March—yes, this is a shameless cross-reference). He had this unconventional, welcoming way of saying, “You don’t have to be normal to belong here—in fact, please don’t be.” He invited the oddballs, storytellers (“liars”), and dreamers.
And—that’s refreshing. Because as adults, we tend to swap out wonder and whimsy for a lifestyle best described as beige with a hint of existential dread.
Shel reminds us: we don’t have to live entirely in spreadsheets and checklists. We can still make space for stories, bold ideas, and quirky little sparks—like the one that makes us rearrange our bookshelves by vibe, not genre, because “nostalgic taxonomy” is a valid system.
I’m keeping this one tucked in my brain. The older we get, we tend to swap imagination for practicality—which isn’t all bad, until you realize you’ve just spent an hour meal-prepping a small mountain of vegetables and your big Sunday win is hitting your Vitamin C goal. Not the worst flex, but do we have room for improvement?
So come in. Come in. The fire’s on. Tales are ready to spin. Beige socks optional. Unique interests encouraged.
This week, I’m committing to one small thing that has no purpose other than to spark creativity—whether it’s writing a poem, painting something, or learning something completely unrelated to my daily routine.
Summer photo dump on my Instagram :)