To imagine the unimaginable is the highest use of the imagination. Cynthia Ozick We all have it, its just that we seldom use it. We go about our day following the usual routine and rarely fire-up our imaginations to plan or develop something well out of our usual schedule. Steve Joordens, a cognitive psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, puts it this way - Its only a small percentage of our lives that we spend consciously considering things. We may go through 80 percent of our life without much conscious thought of what we are thinking and doing. Professor Joordens, points out that when youre involved with your usual daily tasks, any effort to awaken your imagination for some creative purpose is effortful and easily disruptable. In order to get to the creative thing you have to expend an effort. A lot of people dont tend to make those efforts. For those however, who take the time and make the effort to ignite the power of imagination, find the experience energizing and often leads to a successful conclusion of an creative idea. In an article on the power of imagination, Andrew Chung writes Many of the greatest advances, like the theory of relativity were the product of an abundance of imagination.... Another powerful creative tool is to combine imagination with visualization this is the combo used successfully by athletes such as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus they take the time and make the effort to imagine various shot possibilities, then after calculating the best opportunity, they picture making that shot in their minds imagination plus visualization - a powerful tool in developing a more creative, and happier you. Imagination is something we all have but use sparingly, and when we do imagine something, it habitually deals with the usual mundane concerns of our lives and we are missing out on a wonderful opportunity to improve our lives. Take the time and make an effort to use your imagination to think outside the box innovative ideas and creative challenges that will bring about a new lease on life. There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination. Ralph Waldo Emerson |
