Imagining a Better Way

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Here is is another piece that took me off guard. I have been creating so many of them lately that I imagine the New Year is offering me hints about the coming year of surprises. Of course, 2012 is the year of the dragon, and I AM A DRAGON according to the Chinese calendar. A water dragon, to be specific.

A dragon has magical qualities (notice that the other animals in the calendar are real: rats, oxen, dogs, goats, etc.). An imaginary creature prizes the imagination highly–without it, she would not be able to exist!

The following piece is about something I consider a grievous sin: to teach children that it is wrong to imagine, that the imagination cannot be trusted. It is one of the worst forms of projection that a seemingly mature person can attempt to foist on others, especially children. I say attempt  because the imagination has proved amazingly resilient. It does, however, often lie dormant due to the aforementioned teachings about its inefficacy, or even its sinful propensity to inspire hope. Imagining a better way is believed to encourage false hope by those who worship the status quo.

But the imagination is one of the greatest gifts that humankind has been given. I treasure mine, and pay close attention to the images it presents to me.

I hope you do, too.

 Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can? ……~ Sun Tzu I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would grow up to be an eggplant. ……~ Ursula K. Le Guin (I highly recommend all her writing.) Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything Godlike about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything. ……~ Henry Miller

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