Musings on Imagination

Much has been written about famous men and women who have achieved success in spite of hardship and difficult childhoods. We admire them for what they have achieved, seemingly from nothing.

Imagination is something inherent in everyone but successful people have used their imagination to motivate themselves to succeed. How did they do this? Very simply by using an event or situation that appeared in their daily lives. In their mind they turned that subject into something they wanted to believe in, so they could recall it again and again.

For example, every young child who sees Peter Pan would like to think that they, too, can ‘fly’ like the boy who never grew up. After parents put a stop to the actual flying, the children then go on to imagine flying and other situations involving Peter Pan, Captain Hook and the Crocodile, etc. Children build these situations into their imagination so they have a clear picture in their mind of what they would like to see.

Other children might decide that if they cannot fly like Peter Pan, then they are not going to follow through on anything associated with the play, so the story and the meaning are soon forgotten. This may change if there is encouragement by parents, family, friends and teacher. For example, a friend of mine, when she was young , started to copy the actions of famous people. She consciously incorporated some of their character traits into her everyday living. This practice did not catapult her to fame, but she did develop a strong and sensuous personality which has been very beneficial to her in work and relationships.

There are a myriad of ways to encourage this creative power called imagination, through events in everyday living such as: books, films, television programs, discussions, trips, sightseeing, socializing, the theatre – the list is endless. Definitely one of the most popular ways to encourage the creative visions in a young person is through books. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis exposes young readers to a story rich in adventure and belief.

In another set of adventure books called Hell’s Gate Trilogy, a young person has the opportunity to see how belief affects their every day lives. This is demonstrated by the extraordinary adventures three young people fall into and the three angels/animals who accompany them. These books are set in three different places in the world and in one adventure the youngsters travel through time. There is plenty of opportunity for readers to use their imagination in these books.

If the family likes to participate in games with their children, putting imagination to work in a game can be enjoyable and interesting. Just organize everyone into small or large teams, give them a subject, and ask them to write a one page story about that subject. There is a time line for completing this, and the results are read to the rest of the gathering when everyone has finished. It can be very funny and a powerful use of the imagination.

The more children practice imagination, the more likely it is that they will be successful in various aspects of their life. This is not an easy task to accomplish; as it becomes more difficult to sustain the image developed initially and then follow it through to success. Many have done it. They have taken the image they created, have kept it in front of them and pursued it with a passion. In all probability, they had lots of encouragement from people around them, which is most important. Perhaps in some cases they have not had any inspiration from other people, but have hung onto their vision until it became a reality. We may never know the circumstances behind success, but one thing we do know is that imagination counts in the lives of our children.

It counts in our lives too, it keeps us going!

The Old Biddy
©2008 Susan Lancaster.