Vision
Living with imagination is open to anyone who is up for the challenge. For some people it comes naturally and for others you’ve got to make a push, but the rewards are huge. Living with imagination is not just an idea, it’s an active practice.
We all tend to be creatures of habit. We habituate in our relationships, our work and our outlook on life. Some habits can be good, like regular exercise and always expressing gratitude. But many habits are simply the result of lifeless voids in our imagination.
In writing about my own experiences I’m taking a journey to close the gap between life and imagination. I’m simply sharing my own experiences as a launching point and I welcome your comments and experiences as well.
A starting point to living with imagination involves:
- Seeing your own life as a progressive work of art.
- Meeting each moment and interaction in life with the intention of creating something extraordinary.
- A continual realization that our present perception is but one among an infinite number of possibilities.
- Looking for opportunities to extend beyond our personal comfort zones.
- Nurturing the role of imagination in your life and those around you.
- Remaining present and open in our daily life (even if it sometimes hurts).
It’s not necessary to live with imagination. It’s possible in life to eat only to satisfy our physiological needs without appreciating the richness that’s possible in that experience. And I suspect that many of the disorders we experience around eating or other aspects of life stems from a weakness in applying a deeper imagination to them. It’s also possible to approach our work as merely a function that supports our family and provides income to pay bills without any connection of your soul whatsoever. I suggest that no matter what your work you can seek to apply a deeper level of imagination to it and enrich your own life experience.
You don’t have to be an adventurer or world traveler to live a life of deep and soulful imagination (although these can be soul nurturing experiences). The treasures we’re seeking are all around us found in everyday people, moments and events. Modern humans are unique in that through media we are fed daily on the imagination and words that are born from the minds of others. And it’s far too easy to adopt these ready made images as our own. But by doing this we risk becoming malnourished in our own deep personal needs as we seek to fulfill those needs without really appreciating our own personal subtlety and uniqueness.
By sharing parts of my life I’m not suggesting that my life should be yours. I’m just offering small windows into how living with imagination looks in my life so that you might cultivate it in a way that’s best for you.
Here’s to living the life you really want!
Sincerely,
Philip Greenwood