LITTLE IMAGINATION.....GOES A LONG WAY!

I noticed the number #1 best selling ebook this past week was Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. One of the interesting characters in this book was Kate's angelic or imaginary friend Jo. The relationship certainly worked well for Kate. It reminded me of my early days in school. If the teacher caught you "day dreaming" you got a whack with a ruler, or at least in my day you did! Today, day dreaming is a wonderful opportunity for the teacher to encourage writing skills or sharing ideas - I hope!

Nature has endowed us with this most wonderful tool that can be used in so many different ways. Here we are and winter has come down upon us with a vengeance. Although there is not a lot of snow in the city, there are plenty of cold vapours and freezing winds. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could suddenly transport ourselves to blue ocean water and a clean sandy beach under a whispering palm tree! "Beam me up Scottie" said Captain Kirk to his chief engineer. But you can beam yourself where ever you want without moving, that's how powerful the faculty of imagination can be.

When we use our imagination we are forming mental images and concepts that are not currently in our senses. Using it correctly, we can resolve difficulties, invent new things, solve problems, and most of all, escape into the most wonderful and colourful places. Fantasy comes from the early Greek meaning 'to make visible'. Psychologists might argue that it is used to fulfill a psychological need.

The experts are still trying to explain this inherent skill. How does it differ from schizophrenia for example? Some define it as being either Spontaneous, that is there is no conscious direction or Deliberate, that which has conscious direction. It is a complex concept and I doubt we have as yet developed a complete taxonomy.

Even our old friend Aristotle wrote about phantasmia and, in one of his works, he wrote "The soul never thinks without a mental image."  I do think some of his followers blamed the original fall of the human race on Adam's over active imagination when he first lay eyes of Eve!

I have tried over my life time various methods of meditation. At one time I went as far as to set aside thirty minutes a day to meditate. I must admit in the beginning I found it a great way to deal with stress, but the methods were too structured and eventually I lost interest. For me, the easiest form of imagination is simply reading a great book. Once into the book you lose the sense that you are reading words, and the experience is much like watching a video. And what about some of those wonderful dreams we can never remember when we wake up?

Somebody once wrote that what is imaginable is also possible. The author also said that what is impossible is also unimaginable. Whatever!

So why not take a few moments during these cold winter days and nights and escape into your imagination for a few minutes. It's cheap and it works!

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week