Imagination

[Michael792]

So I've been thinking a lot. When I was a kid, I read all the time. As I grew older, though, I was forced to read novels and interpret them in terms of the real world. I've since stopped reading, except for on the internet and on very rare occasion books I would have loved as a child. I'm not sure to how many of you this has happened, but I think it might be a common occurrence. At the same time I was losing my love of reading, I was slowly losing imagination and wonder.

I think this is why we as a society tend to spend so much time watching banal television and movies, and talking about the intricate childish details of every celebrity's life. We have, for whatever reason, lost most of our imagination and wonder for the world. We are logical, scientific, and all of us at some level realize this isn't enough. This is why people spend so much time living vicariously through others, or self harm, or veg out through drugs and other means.

I don't think all of society can be fixed by a little imagination, but I think a lot of our personal problems do stem from the lack thereof. I'm regaining my imagination lately, and I think it's due to dreaming of a better future. Maybe that's something more people need to do, rather than feeling so bleak about it because of the economy or whatever other excuse. I know I can retire early. I know I can live a wholesome, long life of happiness. And ever since I realized that, my imagination is exploding back with full force. I am now able to envisage other realities and stories with the same strength as when I was a child, and I feel wonder at all the things I did when I was younger.

On the other hand, I struggled for a very long time with depression. I don't know if this was the cause of my loss of so much, or if it was a derivative of it. However, I like to think that dreaming of good instead of dwelling on bad is what is causing my resurgence of joy, wonder, and imagination, rather than simply an exit from depression. I feel this way especially because I don't think I've been depressed in years, so I hope it hasn't been there with me all this time. :)

What do you guys think? What are your experiences?

[matchewed]

I can agree with a great deal of what you've said. I agree that passive forms of entertainment are not fulfilling in a mental/spiritual/physical way. I personally can't identify with not reading as it has always been a source of great pleasure and education for me. It broadens horizons if people are willing to read challenging things (challenging not only in level of challenge but in something they may not agree or understand).

I do have to nit pick though on one part. Your second paragraph starts off real strong but inserts one line about logic and science which is grouped in with losing imagination, banal television, and obsession with celebrities. I can't disagree more. Science is a place of imagination. It is a place of wonder and beauty, where what you think you know can be challenged by experimentation. It is a world of discovery and just as broadening of horizons as books and education as it is a core of education. It may not be everything but it has brought us all the awesome things we see today around us that makes our lives such a fountain of luxury.

[grantmeaname]

I think people are too quick to assume that all the parts of society outside of their immediate friend group are reasonably represented by Perez Hilton and the front page of the magazine in the checkout aisle. I've never met anyone overly concerned with celebrities' personal lives.

[gooki]

I mostly glaze over when people want to analyze books/movies, much to my wife's disapproval. As I'm simply happy to take them at face value and let my imagination take me into the world they portrayed.

Celebrity talk doesn't interest me either, as I recognise their lives are outside my circle of control.

I learned to daydream as a method of coping with boredom induced by long car journeys as a kid. This has stuck with me, and core to my method of going to sleep.

I try to walk 30 minutes to 1 hour every day, and daydream as I do it. This is also why I walk alone, much easier to focus on my imagination when not trying to hold a conversation. FWIW I notice few people have smiles on their faces when they're out and about. Like everyone else is trapped in a world of worry, while I'm grinning from ear to ear as the winter sun warms my checks.

On of the most rewarding aspects of being imaginative, is turning you imagination into real physical objects. The sense of achievement is greater than anything I've experienced from monetary rewards, accolades, or educational achievement.

As a father, I do what I can to encourage my children's imagination. I participate heavily in their role play (they like being different animals), my daughter can choose to read a story from a book or have an imaginary one before bed. I encourage her to guide the made up stories.

It's not all easy going. I have to be mindful to be present. I struggle with the weather change from autumn into winter - I become self focused and moody, which tends to lead to me spending money on stuff. I have to be aware that other people are not like me.

[arebelspy]

I've never had much of an imagination.

I did used to read a lot more.  I read a lot of fiction.  Nowadays I mostly read nonfiction.

I've never been unhappy, however, I am happier than I've ever been. 

[Michael792]

I've never had much of an imagination.

I did used to read a lot more.  I read a lot of fiction.  Nowadays I mostly read nonfiction.

I've never been unhappy, however, I am happier than I've ever been. 

I think imagination manifests itself in different ways. So like you're able to think of a future with your real estate empire and early retirement. That's imagination until it happens. Nothing wrong with it though, because imagination is what gets you to think of things other than your current situation.

[arebelspy]

I've never had much of an imagination.

I did used to read a lot more.  I read a lot of fiction.  Nowadays I mostly read nonfiction.

I've never been unhappy, however, I am happier than I've ever been. 

I think imagination manifests itself in different ways. So like you're able to think of a future with your real estate empire and early retirement. That's imagination until it happens. Nothing wrong with it though, because imagination is what gets you to think of things other than your current situation.

I don't see extrapolating and logical predictions as imagination, but I imagine we have different definitions of it. ;)

[Michael792]

I've never had much of an imagination.

I did used to read a lot more.  I read a lot of fiction.  Nowadays I mostly read nonfiction.

I've never been unhappy, however, I am happier than I've ever been. 

I think imagination manifests itself in different ways. So like you're able to think of a future with your real estate empire and early retirement. That's imagination until it happens. Nothing wrong with it though, because imagination is what gets you to think of things other than your current situation.

I don't see extrapolating and logical predictions as imagination, but I imagine we have different definitions of it. ;)

I see what you did there!

I just figure it's the realistic side of imagination. Example: I want "x" in the future. I think about x quite a lot, though in my current situation x seems quite impossible. So, I then go and do the numbers and predictions off that, and I've got a plan. So it's a logical way of making something from your imagination become your reality.

[Rezdent]

I mostly glaze over when people want to analyze books/movies, much to my wife's disapproval. As I'm simply happy to take them at face value and let my imagination take me into the world they portrayed.

Celebrity talk doesn't interest me either, as I recognise their lives are outside my circle of control.

I learned to daydream as a method of coping with boredom induced by long car journeys as a kid. This has stuck with me, and core to my method of going to sleep.

I try to walk 30 minutes to 1 hour every day, and daydream as I do it. This is also why I walk alone, much easier to focus on my imagination when not trying to hold a conversation. FWIW I notice few people have smiles on their faces when they're out and about. Like everyone else is trapped in a world of worry, while I'm grinning from ear to ear as the winter sun warms my checks.

On of the most rewarding aspects of being imaginative, is turning you imagination into real physical objects. The sense of achievement is greater than anything I've experienced from monetary rewards, accolades, or educational achievement.

As a father, I do what I can to encourage my children's imagination. I participate heavily in their role play (they like being different animals), my daughter can choose to read a story from a book or have an imaginary one before bed. I encourage her to guide the made up stories.

It's not all easy going. I have to be mindful to be present. I struggle with the weather change from autumn into winter - I become self focused and moody, which tends to lead to me spending money on stuff. I have to be aware that other people are not like me.

I was happy to imagine you playing with your kids when I read this!

IMO, many children I know are over scheduled.   Well meaning parents are doing this to "keep them busy" and "out of trouble".  Seems to me this results in kids who do not know how to entertain themselves and never get to develop their own resourcefulness and imagination.
I worry that these kids will become adults without the ability to dream big.

When my kids were young I purposefully left large blocks of time unstructured and without TV.  They ran around building forts, making mud pies, and pretending. I think they exercised their imagination and they are better for it.
Hopefully your children will carry their imagination with them into adulthood.

[arebelspy]

I've never had much of an imagination.

I did used to read a lot more.  I read a lot of fiction.  Nowadays I mostly read nonfiction.

I've never been unhappy, however, I am happier than I've ever been. 

I think imagination manifests itself in different ways. So like you're able to think of a future with your real estate empire and early retirement. That's imagination until it happens. Nothing wrong with it though, because imagination is what gets you to think of things other than your current situation.

I don't see extrapolating and logical predictions as imagination, but I imagine we have different definitions of it. ;)

I see what you did there!

I just figure it's the realistic side of imagination. Example: I want "x" in the future. I think about x quite a lot, though in my current situation x seems quite impossible. So, I then go and do the numbers and predictions off that, and I've got a plan. So it's a logical way of making something from your imagination become your reality.

Yes, that makes sense.  I equate imagination with creativity.

[GuitarStv]

Imagination and creativity is different as an adult.  It's both better and worse because of the knowledge you have acquired.

Look at playing a guitar solo . . . to follow fast jazz changes a soloist has to have an internalized background of muscle memory (to actually play the instrument) and chord/scale theory (to know where the right notes are).  You build a kind of musical dictionary of words that can then be strung together on the fly into logical phrases . . . this is based on your past experiences playing.  This type of creativity is not possible to participate in without a significant period of musical study - without forming the foundation you can't build a house.

At the same time, learning scales, arpeggios, and chords can be an obstacle to creative soloing.  Playing a scale straight up and down is boring, predicable, and doesn't require any freedom of thought.  Just picking notes that sound good to you at the moment can work well and is remarkably freeing.

Refined creativity and raw experimentation are two sides of the same 'imagination' coin.