In your Imagination,
You can be any one you want to be,
You can have anything you want,
Imagine – Act – Imagine – Act
You can have, be or do any-thing.
Photo by Steven Libralon (www.unsplash.com)
Hello, My Friends,
This week I’ve been thinking about Imagination.
When was the last time you dusted your imagination off? Took it out of the box, in the back of your mind and let it run free?
As a young girl, my parents purchased a house in a new development, being a cul de sac made it a safe avenue. Over the road from our house were a number of empty sections that backed onto farm land. Our avenue was nick named nappy ave, the population of children around the same age snowballed, which was great for us growing up, we had nearly ready made friends and ‘enemies’ as kids do. One of our favourite past times was to roll in the long grass, flattening it into pretend rooms. I recall spending late afternoons in the summer, laying on my back in the flattened grass, watching the clouds drift lazily by, creating animals and birds from the wispy white fluff. Imagination was never far away, I could be reading a fairy tale book and be taken off into the story. Wrapping my life around the characters, becoming the heroine, or the villian. I used my imagination to make the Saturday family chores more fun. When we polished the floor in the kitchen, I was a ballerina in my imaginary ballet socks. I had so much fun.
Now as an adult and dabbling in writing, I’m finding that re-introducing myself to my imagination is not as easy as it was. My adult brain continually interrupts with a yeah but….. that won’t work, and trails off into a monologue as to why.
When did I stop using my imagination? When did you stop using yours?
As small children we saw the invisible world in our minds as if it were visible. We built forts and castles out of over turned tables and chairs, we used the old box-thorn hedge at the end of the road as the moat to protect us of the ‘monsters’ that lurked beyond. Using our imaginations, we went places where there were no limits, nothing was out of bounds, life was exactly how you wanted it to be. At the end of the day we would come home tired from fighting imaginary battles, setting up imaginary homes, having been all over the world, conquering places we dreamed of.
As an adult I’ve learned that things are created twice. Once in your imagination, and twice in your reality. Everything we own, sit on, drive, wear, watch, sleep on, and eat from was all in some-one’s imagination. They imagined it, then began to create what they saw in their mind’s eye into reality, some of the things we have now are upgrades, of some-one else’s vision.
Imagination is one of the keys to creating the life you want? That’s why advertising is so powerful, it creates the idea, and drops it into your mind, your imagination talks to your rational mind, and you begin the process of creating the thing you saw advertised into your reality.
Imagination can also be an unsafe place to live, especially if you are trying to escape the reality of where your life is now. If your current reality isn’t what you want it to be, then create a new reality. Imagine your life as you want it to be, be very specific, note all the minute details. Imagine your life as if you are living it now, then bring that reality to life, starting right where you are.
Make the choices to create, to act rather than re-act to your current situation. Your imagination will show what to do next. Your work is trust yourself, and work on the inner critic and nay-sayer who will be telling you, “this is not possible” “Who do you think you are” “Really, you want to do THAT”
As you imagine your future the way you want it to be, Notice, who you are with?Notice how they think, how they behave. What are the people in your future wearing? who are they hanging out with? how do they hang out? What types of food are they eating? What books are they reading? What do they watch on television, do they watch television? What do they do on social media, How do they use social media?
Notice all the subtle little details, imagine what will be different in your life, and also notice what will be the same. Use your imagination to create, the drive, the motivation, to take you from the now to the future.
The only way to get from here to there is with planned action.
Ask yourself the hard questions? What do I have to let go to get what I want? What do I need to pick up to become the person in my imagination? What skill do I need to learn? What qualifications do I require?
Imagination will begin the process, action and determination will continue to keep you moving forward. When you hit a troublesome block go to your imagination and look into the future where you’ve already done it, see how the block was overcome and then do it.
Imagine – act – imagine – act and repeat.
Eventually you will make the picture/ movie in your Mind’s eye your new reality.
Imagination is a gift we have been given as children, which most of us lost as we grew up.
Join me in rediscovering the joy of imagination and action.
To the future of your dreams.
Cheers, until next time, be your best authentic self.
Linda Codlin