Imagination

 

What a wonderful gift we humans have that we can imagine things different from reality. Reality is what we face each day, what we must do. Imagination opens all kind of possibilities. Where would our entertainment business be without imagination? Books, movies. They transport us to another world. My favorite books let me experience vicariously a different life in another place, a different time, sometimes, another universe. My favorite movies let me immerse myself in someone else's life. For a few hours, I can forget house cleaning, waiting laundry, household bookkeeping, weeds overtaking the garden. I can put on hold worries about the economy, the job situation, whether our retirement savings will sustain us, our health issues. Reality is all around us, grounding us in the here and now.

When we use our imagination we envision a world of what might be. Imagine (yes, I'm using that word on purpose) if you will a life without modern conveniences. What if Alexander Graham Bell had no imagination? What? No phones? And what if Robert Goddard hadn't read H.G. Wells? Where would our rocket technology be today? What if Charles Babbage, way back in the early 19th century, hadn't envisioned a computer?

I can only say "Thank you, Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas" for giving my imagination a jump start. Adventures in space. Wow. I love Star Trek (especially the newest one) and Star Wars (the original three). That's what led me to write about adventures in another universe.

Remember the joy of playing make-believe when you were a kid? The imaginary friend. Cowboys and Indians. Space adventure and aliens. When we were little, my sister and I played "church" taking turns being the priest. My son and his best friend fought Cat Creatures. What fun they had hiding behind rocks (the basement couch) or building a fort using a sheet thrown over a cardtable. My granddaughter plays out her version of what happens in The Little Mermaid after the story ends. How easily children play make-believe. What creative minds they have.

Have we given up on our own imagination? Do we let ourselves get bogged down in reality? As writers, sometimes we have to dig deep to free up that imagination. Other times, the fun times, our imaginations take us on adventures that we never, well, imagined.