Listening to CBC this evening as I was driving home, I was lucky enough to catch just a snippet of a documentary on the program ‘ldeas’. In case you are unfamiliar with this program, it airs a diverse number of radio documentaries and is always enlightening, well-researched, and totally eye-opening. Tonight’s program was investigating the construct of IMAGINATION, defined by one source as
“… a generative capacity for transformation”.
I mean, how beautiful and succinct can you be.
They go on to qualify imagination as being both useful in the pursuit of good and evil: imagination can take us places that make the world a better or worse place. There is such hope embedded in this idea, we have the capacity, through the power of our thoughts, to transform ourselves and the world around us AND, the more we use this muscle called imagination, the stronger and more easily accessed the possibilities.
As someone who struggles with mental illness, it’s easy to remember times where my all-powerful thoughts have created realities that are completely false. I have convinced myself that I am invisible, that I am powerless, that I face a future devoid of any happiness and only filled with despair. How real these feelings can seem! Using only the construct of the mind, I can erect enormous walls between my greatest supporters and myself. I can deliberately sabotage relationships, thinking I am protecting myself. I can deny myself opportunity, thinking I am unworthy of growth.
As someone who considers her big broken brain one of her most marketable assets, it’s easy to remember times where my all-powerful thoughts have unlocked doors to blinding beauty. I have convinced myself that I can use my insatiable drive to create opportunity for the less fortunate. I construct systems where the arts can intersect with business. I imagine a life where cynicism is recognized as the non-constructive cycle that it is, and mavericks lead communities in directions never though possible.
All this, and I have never left my armchair. How mysterious, how transformative, the power of the human mind!
If you are interested in listening to the CBC documentary, follow the link below.
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2013/02/05/imagination-part-1-2-1/
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