Imagination as Gift and Curse

The gift of imagination makes the world a more exciting and profound experience as this faculty can have the power to see the invisible in the visible and turn matter into living symbols of something greater.  As Michelangelo stated, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." At times spiritual enlightenment can result from the intentional use of this faculty when we take the risk to let it guide our mind and heart into unchartered territory.

Imagination also has a dark side, however.  If we let it carry us down into negative and gruesome images and fantasies, it has the power to destroy us.  Writers of such material have shared experiences of coming out of their creative time feeling as though they had poisoned themselves.  Actors who, through the use of their imagination, have summoned up from some corner of the unconscious terrible aspects of our human nature are sometimes psychologically battered and damaged by the experience.

Most often,  imagination just "happens" to us.  Who has not found themselves in a day-dreaming haze or caught up in anticipated arguments with someone?  Consider the incredible waste of psychic energy that takes place when we let ourselves wallow in undirected and unintended imagination.  These times are often initiated by fear of what the future might hold, by our insecurities or even just by habit and boredom.  This kind of daily mental association and imaging may seem innocuous at first glance, but if we were to take an "energy audit" of our day, we would discover that we are actually wearing out vital life-force for no purpose, somewhat like the open window letting air conditioning escape into the atmosphere.  When we collapse from exhaustion, wondering why we are so tired, we owe it to ourselves to consider how much unnecessary stress was unintentionally processed by our mental and physical faculties.

Those imaginary arguments in the shower or while driving down the highway also have the power to steal our "joie de vivre" and to keep us imprisoned in a black hole of mindless self-absorption.  We may feel sorry for a person wandering the streets talking to themselves, but few of us would care to admit how often we are also that absent from the reality of the moment with our head buried in the sands of fantasy.

When intentionally focused and directed, imagination is a marvelous force of creation that has the potential of lifting us beyond our capacities into realms of insight and creativity that are extraordinary gifts to ourselves and to our communities.  When left to meander wherever it will, imagination can deflate us spiritually and send us free falling into an abyss of chaos.  It can also take us down deviant and perverse paths from which we may not recover.

So let us be mindful of the power of this wondrous and mysterious gift.  Let us guide it toward its beautiful potential, bearing fruit in artistic creations that make our world a better place.  Henri David Thoreau put it this way:"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."