Imagination.
The ability to form mental pictures of something not present,
something yet not known or experienced.
There was a knock on the door. I put down my paint brush
and opened the door.
Standing on the easel was a painting I was working on.
David, a fellow artist entered the room and walked
up to the painting.
-Is this what you are working on at the moment? he asked.
-Yeah, it's number four in a series of paintings I'm working
on, I answered.
-Where do you get your ideas from???? he exclaimed.
-To be honest David, I don't really know. Imagination
I guess?
-But how do you tap into that imagination?
I have never really seriously pondered where the ideas for
most of my artworks come from, so David's question forced
me to do some pondering.
What is imagination and where does it ''live''?
Some say that imagination is considered to be
''a creative faculty of the mind'', a ''process of the mind''
used for thinking, creating, fantasizing, remembering,
etc. so it ''lives'' in the brain.
Hmm, be this as it may, it does not answer how to
tap into it.
Some suggest that when we tap into our imagination
we access a sort of ''library'' consisting of a collection
of experiences, memories, stories, ''movies'' and a bunch
of other new ''stuff'', and then mix them all together in an
infinite number of different combinations.
Hmm, but why do some people seem to be more
imaginative than others?
How can some people just ''tap into'' their imagination
and others find it rather difficult?
Having been asked too many times to count where my
imagination comes from and so far not having been able to
find (in my view) a reasonable/acceptable answer, I am
going to go out on a limb and offer a few of my own suggestions.
First: Asking the question ''But what if...xyz.........?''
(= as in having an open mind)
Second: A willingness to ''fail'' (= as in not the desired outcome)
with a mindset of trying different options until attaining
the desired outcome.
Third: Entertaining ''gut'' instincts, wild notions, crazy ideas
and ''over the top'' possibilities.
Basically, perhaps the overarching ingredient in having a ''rich/vivid''
imagination is a willingness to step out of one's usual mental/mind
comfort zone and into the uncomfortable zone.
However, I have found that sometimes we may use our
imagination not so much in a life-affirming and ''creative'' way,
but rather in the opposite, a more harmful and anxiousness
ridden way.
Imagination: The ability to form mental pictures of
something not present, something yet not known or experienced.
It is possible to sort our ''library'' consisting of a collection
of experiences, memories, stories, ''movies'' and a bunch
of other new ''stuff'', and then mix them all together in an
infinite number of different and potentially
dangerous/scary/anxiety inducing combinations?
Those in the ''know'' suggest that for those of us who suffer
with anxiety related issues often use our ''negative''
imagination as a sort of defence mechanism, as a way
to protect ourselves if things don't work out.
''If I anticipate the worst then I won't be blindsided
when or if it happens''.
Using our imagination to ruminate on possible
worst case scenarios may feel as if we are protecting
ourselves from disappointments,
bad outcomes, hurt feelings and as if we are in control,
but according to people in the ''know'' what it does is
keep us stuck in an unhealthy thinking pattern.
But we can unstick ourselves: We can change.
Change begins with us thinking differently.
''If we always do what we've always done we'll
always get what we've always got.''
(Henry Ford)
''Life only happens in the now, so whether we use our
imagination to imagine a bright and hopeful future
or one full of darkness and uncertainty,
This remains true;
the future will never reside in the present.''
(Citizen Z)
about the image: A) ''A young girl imagines''
Photo edited in Elements
B) ''What will be the toys for the children in the future?''
Acrylic and eye pencils and white charcoal on large canvas
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