What do you tell a child dying of cancer about this world? What do you tell that child’s parents? Do you give them the canned response of “everything happens for a reason”, or just stay silent until the grief has passed or the pain is through, should the answer be in the form of statistics or math? That the child is but a number in the passing of time? Is it right to show them dreams to numb the pain or rather what kind of truth do you show them? Surely we can tell them that soon we will have a cure for cancer but what if that child is dying tomorrow?
Escaping from the reality of this world, a comfort of things unknown. A child-like fantasy of a world beyond this one, from Peter Pan to Beauty and the Beast, tales create in us a kind of hope that can only be in our imagination, a path forward that never be closed. Somehow, some way this imaginary world provides a direction that goes beyond the time that we have in this planet. When someone is at death’s door, some would say it is cruel to give them false hope, because this world does not work for people in that way. Maybe if given that one dose of virtual reality, it would given them supernatural strength. That little voice of positivity might just be the one thing they need to move forward and be strong for a miraculous come back.