“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein
I can go to school to learn. I can search the internet to gain knowledge. There are many ways I can obtain education. But how do I encourage, or learn to get in touch with, my imagination?
Dr Seuss said, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
Cute, but I can only think up what I have put into my head-generally facts or figures. How does one get outside of the realm of reality and into the mists of imagination which can birth creativity?
When I was a child, it seemed easier. We could play dress up and imagine being someone else.
I could be super woman and fly to the rescue.
It didn’t matter that I couldn’t fly. Or that I might not be strong enough to help someone in trouble. I could pretend. Pretend and imagine are closely related.
How does that get knocked out of us? We grow up and we forget to play, dress up, and imagine. Recently I purchased coloring books for adults. I wanted to do some stress reduction with coloring. I loved it as a child. Why did I stop? Adults aren’t supposed to color. We can only color when we are doing it with children. Who set that rule??
More importantly, I hope the coloring books will ignite something deeper in my soul. I hope it unleashes my creative spirit that was long ago put to rest. I have had to tackle so many difficult and demanding tasks in my life that I unleashed my pragmatic side and told my pretend playful imagination to go to sleep. Well, now I want it to wake up. I want it to soar. I want to color outside the lines and let my feelings take wings.
That's My Philosophy 