What is invisible, intangible, and the world’s most powerful renewable resource?
It is the imagination.
Merriam Webster defines the word as “the ability to imagine things that are not real; the ability to form a picture in your mind of something that you have not seen or experienced.”
Other talented and influential people have shared that…
The imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein
Anything you put your mind to and add your imagination into can make your life a lot better and a lot more fun.
Taylor Swift
The man who has no imagination has no wings.
Muhammad Ali
These three people from three different walks of life agree in the power of the imagination. I am proud to join their ranks.
I have always been intrigued by the imagination. Before I could read, I enjoyed watching the clouds swirl and drift into countless formations that sparked it. From the first time I read Black Beauty in the fourth grade, it has traveled many places while I read.
As a student and teacher of music and dance, I basked in the limelight of the imagination’s glow. On stage, and in the audience, my cares drifted away and my imagination opened to countless possibilities once the music started.
In the classroom, I applied myself and made fine grades, but it was during the hours of practice after school on my clarinet and piano where I tapped my foot to find the beat and strung the notes in each measure together that I gained self-confidence and pride.
During motherhood, I encouraged my children to explore their imaginations at school in the classroom and during their extracurricular activities. Over the years, I’ve witnessed cutbacks in music, chorus, and art in the education system, in lieu of ever-expanding technology.
In our race for a more technologically-advanced society, I hope we never forget the impact a live performance has on our minds, bodies and souls. Virtual reality is amazing, but it will never touch our hearts, lift us up, or stretch our imaginations like watching the human spirit come alive in a unique live performance or song.
As a new grandmother, I hope to pass on to future generations the importance that the imagination can play in most every aspect of life. One can learn academics, technology, sports, and arts, but their potential to create a better world is only maximized when they unleash their imagination.
Like many of our great predecessors, I believe the strong imaginations we foster today will find the exciting answers to the challenges of tomorrow.
Here are ten reasons I believe you should explore your imagination:
1) Free admission
2) Pollution free; no harmful side-effects
3) You can take it anywhere
4) No age limit or weight/height restrictions
5) Batteries not required
6) It’s fun
7) You can share it with a friend
8) It’s one of life’s most powerful renewable resources
9) It can make the world a better place
10) Because you can
