%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 20 0 R 22 0 R ] /Count 3 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 17 0 R /GS4 18 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250829141400+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250829141400+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1507 >> stream xWˎ6+f4z.d44(.hKBJq} -:~jϥd0@1ɢsνa!_v=E$ْnKzR B~UGC-64?NvaAi$J O2R}Ȳ=π\kNu[mt/_4 8DU\dIZ t@C)2(E@{4Q0QAW7NAܪ/DqcB<9·>l%=Z}(XgzYZ,]#J,+֋)C!|>^F>aRd>vrO)heIKCVf#z.jo5\G~,BQ#Eа}}-.႑>ztN#֣=RCMF[7ĺKʊJ1 ̇Q_hK\}T z TSWPJ!pS%rq]:%XܑyÄl/Rʀ}3#Z 2J@EkӔjuek@A 赶VU%-f,%[|<W>w1ڔ0j/WAbpBiԢWjڼy;P4 GmFqK&Ԯ^{!qP|Vm{_D\"Rduh!pT@U hCOyo8ˌBH J}F@N{$_+ֽ7A>  F??̆i3|pll\kd\Ok(ڌ 7xE4X&>ki"uFĄmwnG;6Ŝ^t[sf,qZ\8MλG)[,QQ2EmNw4p޹wF&^CgA ;z, 2eє3h6ZJ@Y( >v= 8XB}0X.}upNSc(Ta 3`$Ƽn6^.:b: f9C/M%!Yu"M\=WԬvlpR4 W'so|aB80v<$>$1ÅSЙ&Ws3Tuk)FlK,{}"Il%}#6ҺD_k|ڇ"qx\ʲvFwv4vB=c(Q1,vc0,K^Iq6>۟6.N; p;B q2ˊWEE'+Z}#?4Rϟ1c̲~qfߎUr³xL endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 21 0 R >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2259 >> stream xuXˎWpnߏr`4\YP%q"5"ef`nN%;aݶe<:T򏕨^̖˥?=͎?Vl}8R<uϕݯ/ne Y "W"x'0:UW»V9D#si(.Ҽ w]_](lE@*¸E)L| /.:4m X@U/z]RhqS qOxZ*7g\!t]U|d,\8`v %{.X)D}YعW «)XQڻs6HtڛS?,ڻ?A{Q(įnťqHz·>+Q+[~KdUz,#zW(ωUkAݓh&"&~H)c9ཊa}Csxvc٧X eeƹ[ժF,hL<7z> F+Dug!=BBm qV)Pq}78pS)UdHV㮁I4r ᗞAOrbZ)m gf Qf^΁ zJW' g$R$|QUaFSvlZ& AM&@Ȓ ya9`k\]GqSh .Ed i;K>*Gr9.9|z@@,R0 IvX)ǒ[dQUxLaZ2E漗7*] _&T[HY"RlZi ZYNTbn2W"JY.pƤ@(eQ\T> 7(=FwxT5+aDV:U)Pj"&DR:#@pՏ~-}$&c@f/jżCPB9)^nI%/;YI:Ze_0M,PD9Nn3?U,5i%[(MZT6u5}TlV`u AYs;:SEUeC*9 s,UDӸ ;|8ZzAwPP[qfPȿ (. pm%]A jw&H-/71 .UW:k wpC:t8ڱ 62@v4Aysť@X:IywM~)պX@ADc_ZȪQRi=U~H.zzq L.st-H:HEMMd4] $t$)Mgqu ABJB r.P8o7/`>5""ZSU`P)ҋb&r75hv,㏉Wvh%7TMHJ!3x3;ȆwfQ AD~*tLx'6SN YZ )|d}h.0.q F@d6ɊL]] Xp5u-hp9kQ_b y퓃L t:<,"@m1)'g%M`;ai%79wQ-Rll.XbVqE-.(yB;tOmRUXj5~?TY^;$'{]D? NK[:X-M$T4VlN(f/\oR7~94bJrbVA9\z_0R-:#=# aY4qsI W|t<NE5L4%vCX1=ul iv!ΑERQ'I4D1jQ&g}V9#ɀz "1 u;czhu eKƢR`mr/?kjx5yv-56(g<2]&@%@KW,҅ >5S2Dg))Dk!I@jGE"dRA=n1x a>\4yN#]eˮqM!$\M&ȡSE7ws3BT:Lw}Ky\fIju@y'@BR[ftK`%5/o<ގ~<4d endstream endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 23 0 R >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 495 >> stream xm0yRu:N "!8X%v;/(Hز?3ΆJ)k_gKpq:Ȝ&K,7Xnﯾ){^[(u܃XAh᝭VnpשX8Р5VNtnv{j0vc*?ˉ`EBwVE_zjuI Q3BLQЏV nnNbx0ާbA8c Kl0i<{=VƾMyE I/ ݶRQ9'4/QӚo8;9P;pye5UIxQ$7]4nS6D u#} R΄$<&#Rбw~AhٺڥIRp9&3O!G,NW$*< UT2a:eJÞGBrT_^DBut̳s>A endstream endobj xref 0 24 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000408 00000 n 0000000437 00000 n 0000000586 00000 n 0000000689 00000 n 0000002269 00000 n 0000002376 00000 n 0000002484 00000 n 0000002594 00000 n 0000002707 00000 n 0000002823 00000 n 0000002852 00000 n 0000002962 00000 n 0000003019 00000 n 0000003076 00000 n 0000003135 00000 n 0000003194 00000 n 0000003223 00000 n 0000003328 00000 n 0000005661 00000 n 0000005766 00000 n trailer << /Size 24 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<74fdf6564c4b07cc893945454ecd0e41><74fdf6564c4b07cc893945454ecd0e41>] >> startxref 6334 %%EOF On the Corner | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

On the Corner

February 27, 2007
4 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

Imagination

by Robert Docter, Editor-In-Chief – 

Imagination is the beginning of creation.
You imagine what you desire,
You will what you imagine,
And at last you create
What you will.
George Bernard Shaw
Nothing happens unless first the dream.
All the things we achieve we have first of all imagined.
David Maloue

Imagination is an underused power source. Habitual disuse leads to atrophy.

I think most of us are so busy with routine, so comfortable with the safety of the status quo, that we fail to take time simply to imagine a different way of being, to image a new and untried way to achieve an end. We fail to imagine how our individual world could be better. Possibilities elude us—stifled by the ordinary.

It takes a change in the way we think—even the part of the brain we use to do the job.

Jimmy VanHeusen and Johnny Burke wrote this song of unrequited love for Frank Sinatra.

Imagination is funny / It makes a cloudy day sunny …

It is kind of funny the way our mind’s eye can shift our feelings about complexities and difficulties when we put our imagination to work on what could be rather than, simply, on what is. The act of imagining demands a new view—a reframe. It requires a “heart” look. It takes some effort to shake one’s thought patterns from their habitual quest for linear orderliness and step away from the routine of the ordinary. It’s also risky. People might call you a daydreamer. Taking time to let a perfect mental image stimulate your imagination might cause some to wonder why you are so intrigued with the wonder of the world—why you find beauty and joy in unlikely places—why metaphors spill so unexpectedly from your unconscious perceptions.

Yes, imagination might be funny, but it’s also a little sad—if someone habitually walks around and fails to notice the sunny aspects of a cloudy day. It comes with being so “literal”—so rigid in classifying things—so blind to beauty—so stifled by the cacophony of sounds that one fails to hear the music of a busy street or see the splendor of spontaneity.

Imagination is crazy / Your whole perspective gets hazy …

In the process of engaging our imagination some let it run wild with the creation of worst possible scenarios—gloom and doom—negativity in action. This is, I believe more visualization than imagination. The “horror” images of bad dreams or the fear that causes us to perceive reality as more dangerous than it actually is have their roots in some past experience. Our feelings take over and our mind exaggerates the situation in anticipation of a perceived threat. It’s important to note that escalating suspicion may be reality based. It’s not “bad”—it’s simply needs a strong balance with left-brain action to figure out what to do next.

Only humans can imagine—can generate images in the mind that have never before been seen. All creativity begins with imagination. It lives in the right hemisphere of our brain—that’s the one most of us don’t use very much. It’s where inspiration lives. It triggers goose-bumps when a magnificent painting overwhelms us with strong feeling. It stimulates tears when a simple collection of words are so beautifully crafted as to communicate intensity beyond the literal meaning of the words used. It allows us to explain how something is used, to assign value to an object, to identify patterns of behavior or data of any kind that allow us to see “the big picture.”

Both hemispheres are essential to our ability to function and explore complex questions. These two halves of the brain have different roles in our thinking. The left hemisphere, the one supporting logic, judging, critical analysis, linear orderliness, probably dominates most people today. It’s the most active, the most available, the quickest to respond. We can’t, however, accomplish major ends without recognizing that we need both the right and the left hemispheres—working together, yet separately, to provide us with all the data we need to understand and deal with the difficult questions of today.

They are linked together at the base of the brain with some wonderful wiring called the corpus collosum, and they provide us two modes of thinking—one, the left, heavily oriented to verbal action and the other, on the right, oriented to the non-verbal. The left uses logic and the right uses feeling. Facts rule the left and imagination rules the right.

Problem solving, then, becomes a synthesizing process involving information from both sources. One of the problems in our thinking lies in over dependence on left brain information.

We seek to objectify things like faith. We like to identify specific linear procedures for establishing faith—rules, step-by-step approaches. It’s beginnings, however, lie not so much with instruction as with a mind-set of significant models in a child’s life. The step-by-step approach will yield some understanding, but only at a verbal level. The mind-sets are transmitted non-verbally and become patterns of thought within the child’s mind. These “ideas” become words—words receive meaning and become concepts. The concepts facilitate the development of a belief system necessitating faith. It seems to be attained through images formed through the process of metaphor.

VanHuesen and Brooks finished their song about Imagination with lines that might possibly indicate some “faith” problems.

Have you ever felt a gentle touch and then a kiss
And then, find it’s only your imagination again?
Oh, well…

Imagination is silly, you go around willy-nilly
For example I go around wanting you
And yet I can’t imagine that you want me, too.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like