The value of Imagination
Imagination as a concept hasn’t been getting very good press in recent years. Its’ meaning has become confused with creativity, and in that confusion something very important has been lost. Imagination is the capacity to perceive that which is not there, to “see through different eyes” as it were. To take over one’s own perceptions of reality and substitute alternate data. Creativity covers pulling that data out of thin air, but imagination includes a far greater span of activities.
Empathy is an act of imagination – replacing your own emotions with those of someone else. So is planning for the future – a displacement of time rather than identity. You can use imagination to travel backwards in time, too, we call it memory or recollection. To theorize is an act of imagination. When you read a book or hear a story, your imagination is what allows you to comprehend it.
All of this and more would be entirely impossible without the capacity for imagination. So think about that the next time you worry about “wasting time” with something like daydreaming or reading or playing a game. Sure it might not have anything to do with reality, but that’s what makes it so valuable.
In the world of Rotania, magic arises from the practice of imagination. That’s closer to the way the real world works than you might think. Imagination allows you to examine your own opinions as if you were someone else, or conjure up an image in your mind of something someone else describes to you, that’s not too far away from telepathy. The placebo effect demonstrates the power of imagination to heal.
Be aware of your imagination, pay attention when you use it and learn how to use it better. There are not very many things that can affect your life as significantly and in as many ways as a well nurtured imagination.