Many folks use words to capture the mental images that occur to them in dreams or in their imaginations or while experiencing life. In prehistoric times, these words were only spoken words. Sometimes the story would get grander and grander and more exagerated with each telling until it became the stuff of legends. This was how stories passed on from generation to generation for many thousands of years. Storytelling became an art form of itself.

Then, writing was developed. Whether in the hieroglyphics of Egypt or the calligraphy and characters of China, whether in the Hebrew script of the torah or the cunieform of Babylon. These writings captured moments of time--that, of course of the person who captured the text on the medium whether stone, clay tablet, papyrus, or parchment and of the mental image of the event, in addition to the event itself.

After paper became readily available, you could write notes to yourself (and whoever might later read it) in your journal--either as loose pages kept in a box, or a bound book. Journals have now advanced such that you can get professionally and attractively bound volumes at almost any large bookstore such as Barnes & Noble or Borders. Some of these journals are considered "sketch-books"--that have no lines and thus are better suited for drawings. Others are the formal journals that have blank, lined pages.

You can also keep a daily journal in an every-day 3-ring binder on lined notepaper. Or, keep a journal ("Doogie-Howser" style) by making a daily entry on your computer--whether on notepad or MS-Word or in Yahoo's Calendar or notepad function.

Although it might not seem like much when you first start keeping a daily record of things... over the years, this can turn into a valuable capture of historical moments and interesting events that you may have forgotten if you hadn't captured them otherwise.

These notes can be the seeds for novels or memoirs, poems or musical lyrics. It only takes a while for them to "compost" for a while before they take on a life of their own and become a valuable addition to your "mental image storehouse."

What do you capture? Everything and anything that strikes your fancy. Descriptions of people, places, events. Your thoughts. Jokes. Humor. Sadness. Whatever. If it's in your head, you can get it on paper.

Sometimes it's the ordinary things that strike your fancy such that you can see a different angle or perspective that most folks wouldn't think of. If you can capture this different angle of things that folks take for granted, you can produce a unique, interesting, and thought-provoking image.

Other times, you'll find yourself in an exotic location. As an individual, you'll have a unique perspective on what you are seeing and experiencing. When you capture your experience through your camera, the image catches that moment in time such that no-one else would have that same moment.

Later (many years later, perhaps), these images can be useful in stimulating memories, for rejuvenating those mental images. From these images you may be more able to come up with the words and art to accompany or better express your mental image.

I've put up many of my images (not that many, really) on CafePress for others to enjoy on gifts and goodies. You can see them at my Squidoo site, Images By Dave.

Drop on by and visit. Browse through the images--check out each of the accompanying online "stores". On the other hand, you can visit Cafe Press through my CafePress offerings... and create Your Own CafePress offerings of your mental images!

Go ahead and play!

A piece of canvas, a sheet of paper, a chunk of wood. Combine these with a some tubes of oil paint, some water colors, or some chalk, and you can capture the images in your head and express them.

Although it's nice to have an easel with a side table to hold your painting or drawing tools, you can usually manage with a kitchen table and the tools conveniently sitting next to your canvas or drawing paper.

You can take formal painting and drawing classes at your local community college or through your town's adult education programs or through private instructors. But, sometimes, you can also start to capture your mental images even before learning how to improve on them. It may depend on what and how you want to express what your mind is seeing.