Thought and Imagination: Part 2

Read last month's article: "Thought and Imagination" Part 1

How can we develop a healthy mind and a healthy imagination so that they work together harmoniously to solve problems and promote happiness, tolerance, freedom and universal well-being?

I often tell my high school students that imagination can be more powerful than thought in shaping their lives. Our current educational system stresses passing standardized tests, which sends the opposite message about educational priorities. Imagination, however, is about formulating a future that one wants to achieve and then making the choices necessary in order to reach it. Youth is the time for imagining a better or an ideal future. In the teenage mind it often has to do with desires and image, but that is not a bad thing because these are strong motivators. It is greater cause for concern if a person cannot imagine a better future, since it may create a lack of goals, apathy, and even self-destructive behavior.

If we apply the same idea to adult society, we find that imagining a better future can be an antidote for boredom, pessimism and depression. Many adults feel trapped by life - by relationships that seem at a dead end, by jobs that similarly are not fulfilling, by bills that need to be paid month after month, by a political system that seems bogged down and unresponsive. One's imagination may become a doorway out of a dark room of negativity. The important thing is not that one achieves one's ideals, but that one's outlook be shaped by them. If one works for a better future, if one is willing to explore new approaches to life, life will be more exciting, relationships will improve, and one will have greater optimism. Working for one's ideals is empowering even if there are no immediate results evident.

When one works for a goal and makes plans to reach it, it activates the mind and reshapes one's choices. Creative, constructive action thus results from imagination working with thought. Imagination without thought is merely day-dreaming - the play of images and desires upon the screen of our mind. Imagination and thought are powerful allies because they produce invention, planning, and actualization. These are qualities that make life more exciting and make one feel more hopeful.

They can also be dangerous allies if the imagination and thought are not healthy. Hitler used imagination and thought to serve his diabolical purposes, and many in positions of power continue to base policies on lies, on desires or on fears, which are nothing more than negative imaginations. So unless the imagination and thought are healthy, we get negative invention, planning, and actualization resulting in destruction and suffering. What we call historical and contemporary "reality" is the mirror of the interplay of imagination and thought by individuals and cultures.

The challenge for a society is to nurture healthy imaginations in its people. Often cultures use myths and entertainment to accomplish this. This works to produce a degree of common values and norms but may not be progressive in the sense of producing creativity and adaptability. In the worst cases, a strong national myth and symbols associated with it may be used to manipulate people resulting in unwavering conformity and authoritarian control. At a point at which a society is threatened with survival it needs to solve its problems and reach a resolution which takes it to its next stage of development. The same is true for an individual. Individuals grow as they successfully meet the challenges and crises of life. Challenge and crises are never absent from human life, and may produce greater understanding and development. Creative people actively create their own challenges or take on the challenges of society as their own. This is how leaders develop in all areas of human activity.

A healthy imagination is not self-centered, but rather imagines a better life for others. It connects one in a positive way to others and to one's environment. It makes one become a positive force in one's surroundings. Two elements are essential to develop a healthy imagination: a sense of beauty and a sense of compassion. These develop a healthy heart and a healthy mind. The sense of beauty is developed through observation of nature and for looking for good in others. Compassion is developed through service to others. These are inner resources which anyone can develop. Through beauty and compassion we become human and develop idealism which is the product of a healthy imagination.

In order to become more than just rational animals struggling to survive, we must add imagination to our outlook on life. Imagination expresses the unique qualities of the human heart, and makes one's life worth living and a value to others. Without imagination our future is bleak and materialistic. A healthy imagination is the source of empowerment and action, and the catalyst for positive change.

Next month: Imagination and Healing