Imagination: a creative force that can help or hinder us, depending on how it’s used.
Wielded correctly, our capacity to envision something that’s radically different to what we’re experiencing in the here and now can be transformative.
Limited thinking produces limited results. The less we see, the less we do, the less things change.
The more our possibilities expand, the further we can go. The more change we can create. And the greater the spectrum our lives can unfold over.
As well as being the key to unlocking hidden paths to progress, it’s also essential to connecting with other people.
While we may not have gone through exactly what they’re going through, our ability to empathise is driven by imagining what life is like from their perspective.
Imagination releases us.
It connects us.
It allows us to envision how things could be in different circumstances… and in doing so, enables us to take the first step towards turning that thought into reality.
But this ability is not without its downsides.
When we’re in the grips of our imagination, what we see as its most notable strengths can also be complete liabilities.
Imagination doesn’t need your help to run wild.
It doesn’t need its ideas to be backed up by reality.
It doesn’t need to “make sense” in any objective respect.
It simply does what it’s designed to do:
Creating inner world experiences that go on to colour our perception of the outer world (if we let them).
Without reality to anchor us, our imaginations can go into overdrive.
In some contexts, that’s a good thing.
If you’re trying to solve a problem that’s never been solved before, or if you’re facing a significant uphill battle where maintaining a positive attitude is essential to your overall success – you don’t necessarily want to let reality drag you down to its level. Not before you’ve had a chance to push back, at least.
But if there’s something you’ve been putting off…
If there’s a challenge we’re worried about, a change we’re nervous to make, or a hidden anxiety we’re afraid to face…
All of these things grow in our imagination.
Day by day, they get bigger and bigger.
What was once a whisper of doubt turns into a looming menace we’re afraid to look directly at. It lurks at the corner of our vision, occupying our attention and belying our efforts to make it disappear.
Yes – just as our imagination can set us free, it can confine us.
The lesson:
If there’s something shadowing you, don’t let it wield your creative capacities against you.
Look those fears in the eye.
Allow reality to be their anchor. To define their borders. To shrink them down to size.
Odds are that whatever we’re envisioning is far worse than the reality will be.
Only action dissipates the tension of unknowing.
And when it’s gone – when the dust settles and our vision clears – we’ll wonder what we were so worked up about in the first place.