Saturday, September 3, 2016

Imagination


    Imagined adulthood.
    Gained adulthood.
    Lost imagination.
This was posted on Facebook by a special friend and really amused me.  It did get me thinking though.
I truly believe that, except for the soul, imagination is the most important aspect of a human being.  Oh I know reason, creativity, consciousness, and all the additional parts of our beingness that we experience, are important. For me, however,  imagination holds the key to our highest states of consciousness and our very worst nightmares. Inspiration and fear both come from our active imagination.  I have no clue if other beings experience imagination.  An animal can be very intelligent and obviously is able to reason.  I know our little chihuahua, Angie, can play pretend cat. She will sniff under a bush or look under a car and then jump and run about as if she is chasing a kitty. We always get so amused when she does this because it is exactly how she will play with a real cat.  Both humans and animals participate in play which I feel is an acting out of imagination. ( I think this may be why athletes get better in the off season for their sport because they visualize the activity and are ready to begin acting it out when the season's training comes.)  I know as martial artists we were taught to visualize moves and situations in resting states so we would be prepared if the real situation were to arise.
 This is how I overcame my fear of going home alone by subway after the rush hour has ended in NYC.   I would visualize an attack  by one or more assailants and then practice my moves to evade or control the situation using either force or reason.  Oddly enough I never had to experience anything I had worked out before in my imagination; but my fear was replaced by calmness and control.  There were instances which could have become dangerous but I really believe my demeanor and lack of fear kept things from  being realized.  By the way I also believe that a Godly person also repels attacks that  might occur by nature of his or her sense of protection by God.  Mother Theresa went into the most horrific and dangerous situations with no fear and she was never attacked.
Every safety expert will tell us: to be aware of our circumstances, have one's keys ready in one's hand when going to the car in a parking lot, do not be testing or on the phone, if you feel any thing might be suspicious to go back into the store and get an employee to accompany you to the car, ete, ete, etc.
All this preparation can inspire fear rather than negate it.  What they neglect to tell you is one who is confident and self assured is rarely attacked.  Criminals look for nervous, or unaware victims.  Sometimes we are told not to look people in the eye and to keep our eyes down.  I have found that recognizing others as people and individuals can be a good tactic. Acknowledging others and nodding pleasantly shows you are confident, at ease, and able to deal with situations which might arise.  .
But back to imagination.  I think I could write a book about my imaginary experiences, both waking and sleeping.  This however would be for another time.  For now I simply want you all to begin thinking about imagination and how important it can be for human development.
John Lennon:
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharin' all the world
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/john-lennon/imagine-lyrics/#0QkHZBtiG8ZxflXx.99(

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