Wings Of Imagination:
The man who has no imagination has no wings.—Muhammad Ali
Here is the question you might, and probably should be, asking yourself.
Why bother with learning how to be an Imagination Master? What practical use could being a master of imagination be in the “real” world, or daily life?
Perhaps you are wondering why you would waste the next few months of your life practicing how to imagine.
I mean, after all, what will your friends and family say? Perhaps they would ask you if there aren’t more productive ways to spend your time.
And then there is always the chance that, like me, imagining is something you were supposed to stop doing. Or at least hide that you are doing it.
I can’t tell you how many times a teacher, or parent, would catch me staring into space and ask me, “Are you daydreaming again?”
Yes. Yes, I was, and it was fun!
After all, I was a reader of fairy tales and science fiction, and it all seemed so marvelous. It seemed so much better than sitting behind a desk in a square room.
I asked myself what it would be like if I were a fairy in the forest? Or if there was a unicorn waiting for me to ride home.
They were the imaginations of a little girl. What good were those imaginations to me, other than to make life more fun?
And what good will being a master of imagination be for you, or me, as an adult?
Sure, now that I am long past grown-up, I can turn my imaginations into stories, and then books, and that seems like a practical thing to do after all.
But that is only one small use for it. It doesn’t answer the question of why you, or I, would want to be an Imagination Master at any age over ten.
There is such a good reason that it is almost shocking.
Especially since we have been taught that the world is only what we see or experience through our five senses. That we need to grow up and make a living. That success can be measured.
What if that was all wrong?
Imagine this. It is!
Imagination is actually where our future lives. Imagination is what creates inventions that make our lives better.
Imagination brought us Einstein’s equations, airplanes, the internet, electric lights, the smartphone, and countless other inventions that have changed our life.
Imagination had us take a chance on love, on finding friends that don’t look like us and visit the moon. All because of imagination.
But there is still more than that.
And it’s all because of this:
The Subconscious mind can not tell the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined.— Bob Proctor
Think about this, and you’ll know it’s true.
Have you ever watched something on TV and started to laugh, cry, or feel afraid?
Have you ever cried because you heard a sad story? It had nothing to do with you, but you felt it?
Have you ever worried over something that never happened? Been afraid, and then discovered that what you were afraid of was a story someone made up?
Yes, you have. We all have. That is imagination at work.
Our minds, our subconscious minds, our rational minds, do not know the difference between reality and imagination.
Even our memories are not accurate. We have re-imagined the past in a way that works for us.
The horror of that moment,” the King went on, “I shall never never forget!”
“You will, though,” the Queen said, “if you don’t make a memorandum of it. —The White King and Queen, Through the Looking Class by Lewis Carroll
Imagine that. Imagine what that means! It means we could imagine what we want to be real. We can rewrite the story of our lives any time that we want to.
Wait? What?
Yes. It’s true. So why don’t we use imagination more often to design how we want to live?
John Kennedy, in his famous speech on May 25, 1961, dared us to dream of going to the moon. He used a trick in that speech to get us to imagine it. Over and over again, he repeated the phrase, “We choose to go to the moon.”
What was he doing? He was reprogramming the nation’s belief system. We all imagined what going to the moon would look like. But most of all, we imagined what it would feel like.
And what happened? We went to the moon.
Many people say that John Kennedy’s death was a turning point in our world. What would our world be like if he kept on forcing us to imagine a better future for all humankind?
It’s probably why mourning for him has lasted so long. We mourn for what could have been.
He can’t imagine a better future for all the earth anymore, but we can.
The subconscious mind is far more powerful than the conscious mind. But it will stay in pre-programmed ruts and direct our lives without our knowledge unless we learn to change it. Expand it. Use it to reveal a reality that works.
How do we do that?
We become Imagination Masters, again. Because we already are, or were, as children. It’s time to get back to it—on purpose.
What you perceive to be reality magnifies.
That’s just the way it is. So let’s imagine.
However, in this book, we are not going to imagine, or visualize, what we already know.
We will not turn our daily imaginations into either an “I want this” or a “to-do” list.
No. We are going to do so much more.
We are going to imagine what we don’t know—what we haven’t seen before. Ride moonbeams. Summon a magic carpet and visit the fairies who used to live in our backyard.
What good will this do? It will turn on the spigot to new ideas and a new reality. In more practical terms, it creates new neural pathways in our brains. Everything gets easier, brighter, more fun, more successful.
Less discord. More imagination.
As humans, we are spectacularly good at imagining the “what if” scenarios of disaster, or ill health, or worry-filled days.
Stop it! Not just because it is a waste of time, but because that is creating a reality for you to experience, and is that the one you want?
Instead, think “what if” and imagine glorious things. Good things. For you and everyone.
Don’t make it happen. Imagine it. Step back. Feel what it would be like if it were true.
Then imagine again.
That’s what we are going to do together for seven weeks.
Perhaps when you’ve finished, you will do it again, until imagination becomes what drives your day.
Imagine a different way to solve a problem, to speak a hard truth to a friend, or heal an illness.
Have I convinced you of the value of taking just a few minutes out of your day, every day, to become better at the one thing that can change everything?
If not, convince yourself. Give it a try.
Imagination. Not Visualization.
One more thing, before you begin.
Imagination is not visualization. This is not a book called Visualization Mastery for a good reason. They are two different things.
Visualization is an excellent tool when we are working on something we want to make better. There are many studies about how visualization improves everything from golf games, to performing better on stage.
Imagination is outside of what we already know.
When we imagine, we take ourselves out of the world as we know it.
We are not trying to make things better by visualizing them. We are not trying to get something by visualizing.
We are imagining because within our small limited viewpoint of the world we are missing most of what is really going on.
By imagining, we’ll begin to see more, experience more, and it will be greater than we could ever have visualized.
Have fun with it. Don’t be serious. Be childlike. Imagine, the best, most amazing—whatever—that you can. It will only get better as the days go by.
Let’s get started.
I’ll see you on the other side.
