Being around kids all the time has really challenged me to use my imagination. Some days I imagine that I am on vacation and not playing hair studio for the fifth time that day. Sometimes I imagine what these kids could possibly be thinking of, or in more cases than not, not thinking of. The other day, Emma, the five year old I have the pleasure of nannying, reached her hand into the sky and said, "Look, Asheton! My hand is giving me a high-five in the clouds! Now it's waving! Do you see it?" I laughed and told her she would have to show me. She replied with a surprisingly straight forward answer, "Well, you can't see it. I was just using my imagimication." It was at this moment that I realized how much we boring adults miss out on something as great as an imagimication.
Exactly how much do we miss when we don't use our imagination? Without getting too Peter Pan on everyone, I think it is an idea that we should entertain. Especially creative's. How often do you look at your lunch and imagine you are eating your last meal because you are on the run and it might be your last? How many times a day do you get lost in a day dream about something completely ridiculous? If you were really honest, when was the last time you got lost in a good book? Not a movie, a book.
Movies are great. I really enjoy them and without them I know I would have missed some great stories. The ninety minutes you spend getting lost in a story on film could take you places your never deemed possible. But in all reality, the people who made that movie that you are getting so lost in, are providing the story for you. They are taking you to far off lands and on adventures so epic you know they would never happen in your lifetime. Not only do they provide the story, but the mood, the setting and even the color temperature of the scenes have been chosen for you, the viewer.
Now think about reading a book. It's all words. Maybe a few pictures here and there, but for most adults (most) picture books are a thing of childhood.
Without an image, words are the only things that can describe to you what this story is like. You use these words to imagine what the dress the girl in your story is wearing looks like. What the weather was like, even things as detailed as what her eye shape was. You do all these things using your imagination. Movies, on the other hand provide you with an actor. You know exactly what they look like because they are right in front of you. You know if it is raining or just drizzling. You can see the anguish, joy or surprise on their face because it is projected on a screen. Your imagination, after all those images, is left with little to work with.
I challenge everyone (still) reading, to take a moment and imagine something beautiful. Then something sad, then something exciting. Imagine as many things as you can or want! See where these things take you. See how detailed you can be. Even if you are only imaging a bowl, what is in the bowl, is it filled or empty? If it is full, what is it full of? If you imagined it empty, what could you fill it with?
You will be surprised where your own images take you. You may find your self happily lost in your own imagimication.
