Tags
beauty, creativity, good deeds, gratitude, imagination, nature, poem, poetry
I t will take you everywhere.
M ust be true
A fter all, Einstein said it
G enius that he was.
I n all seriousness though
N o theft is greater
A nd more future harming
T han mining it from the depths of our children
I n the pursuit of malleable mediocrity
O r don’t you believe
N ew levels of thinking are what’s called for?
You all know I love a good acrostic:-) It occurred to me this morning that imagination is a muscle, albeit an emotionally fuelled one, and as much in need of regular testing and flexing as any other, if it’s not to atrophy. As I was compiling a shopping list this morning my mind got busy comparing the due merits of doing what needs to be done versus doing what’s fun, and I decided those two things didn’t necessarily need to be so utterly separated. I began to compile an alternative shopping list, just in case I were ever to find that elusive one stop shop that sells everything…and I mean everything and anything. There were ten things on my normal shopping list, so I wrote ten alternatives too, the first that came into my head, which looked like this:
An everlasting water bottle that instantly and automatically refills (Ok, a bit boring and practical, I was just getting warmed up, but damn useful, you must admit)
A pocket sized foldable instant camp fire (Ok, still kind of practical, but a cool party trick…)
A flying unicorn (well, that was kind of inevitable wasn’t it, there had to be a cliche in there somewhere…)
A notepad that reads all your thoughts and automatically writes them down (ok, obviously this could be dangerous and needs an off switch, but very useful too for those of us whose minds are much faster than our hands can write, and what’s a life without risk?)
A talking dog (ok, I know you all think your dogs already talk to you but don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean, like REALLY talks…)
A fruit and nut tree (I’m imagining cherries, pears, apples, hazelnuts and grapes all on the same tree…)
A harp (have you every played one? I have a little…magic!)
A wood burning aga (but maybe I need to buy the cottage it goes in first…)
A word swallower – it eats the words you wish you’d never said and then erases them from the collective memory!
A pair of trousers that automatically resize and adapt themselves to the changing shape of my body!
So that’s me touching in with my currently rather neglected imagination and, though I can feel a bit of an inner ache, it stood up quite well to the exercise. Now I need to make it more often and regular, and see what it can really do. The dark, cold, indoorsiness of winter’s a great time for some serious imagination training:-) Hey, come spring I’ll be running (imaginary!) marathons:-)
Good Deeds Received
Had a lovely chat with a Polish woman who was working with me on the packing line at the factory, during which time we discovered a mutual love of poetry and she asked for my number so I could give her and her family some English lessons!
A friend invited me over for dinner and Saturday night TV:-)
My Dad sent me some fun photos during his journey back to Bali.
Had an incredible conversation with a friend which was getting deeper and more delicious by the second and then…I had to go to work! We pressed the pause button, and will no doubt pick up where we left off next time we meet.
Received a lovely text message from a friend who hadn’t seen me for a while and wanted to know how I was doing.
A friend emailed to ask if I still needed a contribution towards the fundraising I was doing for Beatha in Rwanda, and I managed to stop myself from replying no, it’s ok, I reached my target (she has already helped so much…) and instead shared that actually, yes, her help was most welcome. I realised from her joyful and generous response that it really sometimes is a gift to the giver to welcome their gift.
A friend and colleague invited me to hold a creative writing session with her group, shortly before Christmas and requested I infuse it with festive spirit! I’m looking forward to that:-)
Good Deeds Done
I helped out in Mum’s cafe when she heard at late notice that one of her colleagues couldn’t make it.
I called my friend Beatha in Rwanda immediately when I saw she’d ‘beeped’ me (i.e. left me a missed call so I could see she needed to talk). I will send the next monthly installment a little earlier than planned, as she’s been prescribed some new medication and didn’t have money left from last month.
I called my Dad as he was on his way to the airport to wish him a good journey back to Bali.
A good deed to my body – I made a commitment to myself to prepare and take with me healthy food for my tea breaks at the factory, as I’ve been eating far too many biscuits!!!!
Created and printed off some menus for Mum’s cafe so people can pre-order their pizzas over the phone.
Picked up some litter on my way to work.
Helped out a colleague who was getting a bit behind speed because the biscuits he was putting into the plastic containers being they were boxed hadn’t been stacked properly by the people who’d taken them from the oven.
Have a great week my friends and may that wild Imagination of yours take you places you’ve never even dreamed of…and then write me a ‘postcard’ in the comments below:-)
wordsthatserve 
Lovely post, I shall put my thinking cap on, I like you water bottle idea and the portable fire.
Thanks Rosie, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had fun writing it. Ahh, a thinking cap…now, what would that look like and what would you make it from and does it have a switch to choose what kind of thoughts you want to think….Love and hugs, H xxx
how wonderful an encouragement
to explore outside of this box 🙂
Beautiful
and comfortingly familiar
as the box can be
there’s a whole exciting world –
just outside of it…:-)
H xxx
Imagine that! Good one, H. xox mps
LOL – thanks dear Perpetua:-) Blessings, H xxx
I love your idea of imagination as a muscle that needs to be flexed — yes! What an amazing workout you gave it. 🙂 That Einstein quote is so true. I notice it again and again — how many possibilities appear when I’m thinking creatively, imaginatively, rather than back in the “thought rut” that contributed to the things I’m not liking … Have a wonderful week, Harula!
Thanks Jill – it is a great and useful quote isn’t it. That thought rut is indeed a tricky trap, but imagination’ll get you out if it every time. And what I find is…what I imagine up doesn’t even have to be useful or come true or be of any obvious value beyond itself and the space it gives to breathe into things again and not feel so tight. There’s nothing more inhibiting to the imagination than expectation – “Right, you’d better get me outta this one ‘Im’. Come on – what’s the solution?” It’s got to be playful, and apparently frivolous. I’m sure you know what I mean. Hugs and blessings, H xxx
“There’s nothing more inhibiting to the imagination than expectation” — no truer words were ever written, Harula! I love that. 🙂
Lovely post, Harula! I loved your ‘imagination muscle training’! I certainly agree – I think we need to let our imaginations run on and explore, like small children exploring their ever-expanding world. When we allow ourselves to disregard the ‘normal thinking’ rules, all kinds of things become possible … like auto-refilling water bottles 🙂
Thanks Peggy – glad you enjoyed it:-) I was lucky in that my parents always encouraged my imagination, my dreams, and I even found outlets at school which meant it was welcome (Drama, short story writing in English). I think actually this is where the ‘What if…?’ question can be useful. What if we’d found the solution to climate change? What would that look like? What would it feel like? What if we’d created a world of peace? What would that look like? What would that feel like? I think imagination is an extremely powerful tool of manifestation, especially if it engages our emotions. Hmm, more pondering to do… Hugs, H xxx
That’s wonderful when you have parents who support with positive encouragement. ‘What if …’ is a very useful question. I am a great believer in thinking ‘outside the box’ and we’ve encouraged our children to be like this also. I think having ‘impossible’ dreams is the first step towards making them a reality. Thinking about imagination always makes me think of the Dr Seuss book ‘The Thinks you can Think’ 😀
You are indeed and accomplished Acrostic-er.
And I, too, would want a forever-filling water bottle (provided medical science could come up with a way to keep me from having to make all those extra trips to the bathroom.)
Why thank you fine friend:-) It would be cool wouldn’t it…but yes, I take your point. Hmmm that’s the problem with inventing and imagining things, you have to keep imagining and inventing some more…an Imaginer’s work is never done! Hugs, H xxx
Aa great post Harula! Well Ive just been round the block on my scooter with my lovely dog Jack by my side. In our imaginations we were up on the moor (where we were supposed to take our walks when this diagnosis slapped me in the face.) When we came home we played chase (me still on the scooter of course!) and I threw his rope for him. Of course in my imagination I was running. So nowI feel refreshed from the sharp air and the kettle is on! What a trip! 😄 xx
What a wonderful comment! Thank you dear Christine:-) I can picture the two of you on your adventures, the outer and the inner combining to refresh and nourish. In my experience imagination can give me back freedoms it appears ‘real’ life has taken away, even if briefly, and that can be a great comfort and encouragement. Love always, Harula xxx
I love Acrostics too – and this one is a dandy. Must have taken a lot of….IMAGINATION! tee hee
Tee hee indeed:-) Thanks so much Pam…I don’t think I’ve ever had one of my poems called a dandy – hooray! What a GREAT word:-) Hugs, Harula xxx