by Kathy Van Peteghem
As children, our Imagination is front and center. We naturally use it to create, inspire, motivate, and problem-solve. Everything is possible in a child’s world, which is entirely playful and lighthearted. For those who have brought the tool of Imagination into adulthood, many have found it to be the fuel for their latest gadgets, state-of-the-art technologies, and creative problem-solving.
However, even with these examples that Imagination should be included in one’s life to grow and expand one’s wholeness, adults are programmed to be rational and analytical beings who often sidestep “imagination” and “spirituality,” which links to their wholeness. The use of Imagination has been underestimated as part of stepping into greatness. Most adults tend to live from their rational minds and not from their intuitive hearts. Therefore, they automatically prefer to trust analytical thinking from the mind. They disregard the use of Imagination or intuition felt from the heart, feeling it has no place in their problem-solving reality as it does not always follow logic or reasoning. Thus, when problems in life arise, emotions of stress and feelings of trappedness, anxiety, and hopelessness also tend to rise, especially If the person has yet to open their door to spirituality or unlock the door to their Imagination.
Imagination and Spirituality
According to an article written by Fredric and Mary Ann Brussat, “In spiritual life, Imagination has two meanings. First, it is a human faculty — the part of us that traffics in images, symbols, myths, and stories. It is the capacity we all have for innovative thinking and creative expression. Second, Imagination is an inner reality, a boundless realm not defined by our senses or reason that we know from our dreams and can enter via specific exercises while awake. The practice of Imagination encourages us to use this faculty and enables us to explore the realm. “
Kathleen Fischer’s Imagination in Spirituality shares that “imagination, when used, allows a “double vision” that takes reality on several levels all at once and nourishes that part of finding God in all things. It opens one to the mystery in the ordinary to the finite reality, the depth of the heart of matter which holds matter and spirit together.” She shares a personal story in her book to illustrate this loving awareness and one that I would like to share in a paraphrased format with you, the reader…
She, a friend, and the friend’s daughter, aged 6, were inside a university bookstore. As she and the friend were absorbed in a deep conversation, the 6-year-old daughter wandered off to explore and soon found a student confined to a wheelchair who, because of his severe palsy, had a constant movement of his upper body, arms, and head. Curious, she remained standing in front of him, staring.
Upon seeing the daughter missing, the two friends quickly approached the daughter, who was facing the student. But before anything could be said to the daughter, they heard the daughter state to the student in the wheelchair, “I see you dancing, but I cannot hear your music!”
This response by the daughter to the student in the wheelchair led the two friends to see the familiar situation in a new way.
How to Activate and Awaken Your Imagination
Like Harold and the Purple Crayon, where he takes the purple crayon to draw things he wants to manifest using his Imagination, we can call upon our inner child to play and explore without judgment. Try writing a story with several different endings, go on a walking meditation in nature, or try an ordinary task like drawing with your dominant hand but using your non-dominant hand. Learn a new hobby such as playing an instrument, writing a song about something that makes your heart sing, or trying theatre acting. These strategies help to awaken new thoughts and ideas and remove blocks of limitations. One will soon find less stress, clarity, peace, and a heightened realistic relationship with All That Is.
Kathy Van Peteghem enjoys the creative side that embraces the body, mind, and spirit. She is a writer, photographer, musician, artist, gardener-herbalist, and nature lover who releases a stressful day with tap dancing and Gi-gong. She loves living life from the heart and hopes to inspire others to do the same.
