Imagination is the key to Greatness
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand." -- Albert Einstein
Go. Try on a new reality like a suit of clothes. Experience a different personality, a different set of rules about life, and another way of being.
Live in another reality for a moment, and learn. Share your dreams through writing, acting, or other arts.
If you find something that touches your deepest desires, then start on a path to make part of that reality "real".
You've turned on your imagination.
You've come alive.
This lens is my tribute to the power of imagination.
Imagination is tied to so many areas of life: Creativity, Problem Solving, Writing, The Arts, Music, Personal Development, Success.
Imagination is our gateway to the world of the unconscious filled with myths, archetypes, and hidden knowledge and potential.
Touch wonder. Feel the magic.
Welcome to the world of Imagination.
Touch the future with imagination
To many people imagination is a simulator, a machine where we can try on the future, and see how it fits.Sometimes we use this simulator as a pleasant toy to enjoy the feelings that arise from a fantasy we imagine.
Other times, we use imagination to simulate a future that you desire with all your heart. In that case, the imagined future is far more than a fantasy to enjoy. It's a reality that speaks to you. It calls to you.
Imagine that there is a future you who is more accomplished, more free, more powerful, and more true to your dreams than you are.
Like a loving friend, brother, or parent, he calls to you to join him in an extraordinary future. This is not a fantasy. You are calling to yourself. Can you listen and reach out into the future?
Imagination as simulation can be used for a pleasant fantasy, or as a time machine where you listen to the call of the future. Will I be honest enough with myself to see the difference, and will I act on that knowledge?
My stories from the Unconscious: The Heart Fountain
The Heart Fountain is a series of stories about traveling to a distant world where shape shifting and manipulating energy with the mind is common.
These journeys were done using techniques from Silvia Hartmann's Project Sanctuary and Genius Symbols.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRecommended Products for Stretching Your Mind
Favorite quotes on imagination
#1
Peter Nivio Zarlenga
I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel.12 points
#2
George Bernard Shaw
You see things; and you say, Why? But I dream things that never were; and I say, Why not?10 points
#3
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible10 points
#4
Sean O'Faolain
There is only one admirable form of the imagination: the imagination that is so intense that it creates a new reality, that it makes things happen.10 points
#5
Pablo Picasso
Every child is born an artist. The trick is to remain an artist.9 points
#6
Eleanor Roosevelt
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.9 points
#7
Walt Disney
Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination. But just as a muscle grows flabby with disuse, so the bright imagination of a child pales in later years if he ceases to exercise it.8 points
#8
John Barrymore
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.8 points
#9
Mark Twain
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.7 points
#10
Helen Keller
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.4 points
#11
Carl Sandburg
Nothing happens unless first we dream.3 points
#12
Bertrand Russell
Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.3 points
#13
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination.2 points
#14
Napoleon Hill
Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.2 points
#15
Henry David Thoreau
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
Live the life you've always imagined.2 points
Visualize the Future with Video Vision Statements
Video Vision Statements are a wonderful way to focus on what's important to you, and build the motivation to bring it to life.
Here's a Video Vision Statement that I've created.
For more information, see my lens on How to Create a Video Vision Statement.
Imagination, Visualization, and Personal Development Books
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creative Visualization (The Complete Idiot's Guide)
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 10/07/2008)
Creative Visualization: Using Imagery and Imagination for Self-Transformation
Amazon Price: $13.45 (as of 10/07/2008)
Creative Visualization Meditations (Gawain, Shakti)
Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 10/07/2008)
The Creative Visualization Workbook: Second Edition (Gawain, Shakti)
Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 10/07/2008)
The Joy of Visualization: 75 Creative Ways to Enhance Your Life
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Another of my Video Vision Statements
Quotes on Greatness
#1
Muriel Strode
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.10 points
#2
Albert Einstein
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.9 points
#3
Fernando Flores
Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great.6 points
#4
John L. Motley
Deeds, not stones, are the true monuments of the great.5 points
#5
Eric A. Burns
Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential. Beyond the raw talent. You need the appropriate training. You need the discipline. You need the inspiration. You need the drive.3 points
Imagination: The Gateway to the Unconscious
If you're an artist, writer, sculptor, musician, or photographer you might think of imagination as a place.A place deep inside where you search for something new.
Somehow yours, and yet not yours.
In Greek Mythology, the sources of inspiration were creatures called Muses.
The source of inspiration was personified as something external, because the experience of creation has a feeling of discovery, of otherness, and sometimes compulsion associated with it.
This is the use of imagination to reach deeply into a hidden place in us.
Some call it the unconscious, and imagination is its doorway.
When we create using the imagination, we reach out/in to a place in ourselves that is both distant and familiar.
When we walk toward that place, we often go with a question, idea, or theme that will bind and filter what we let come out of the unconscious.
Sometimes it's the very power behind our question and search that gets that place to open to us.
We have to have courage when we reach for the dark door and open it, for we are ultimately unsure of what will come through the door.
Imagination and Project Sanctuary
Silvia Hartmann's method for mapping and exploring the unconscious
Have you ever wanted to explore strange worlds?Our unconscious and its messenger, the imagination, hold worlds more complete, and more surprising than we expect.
There are a variety of tools for exploring that endless world that we call the unconscious.
Silvia Hartmann has a wonderful technique for building a special world in your imagination, and filling it with a few characters who can guide you to your world's wonders.
She calls this special world that you create "Sanctuary", for it's a special place that you return to again and again in your imagination.
It will have endless lessons to teach you.
Things that you know deep inside you,
but may have forgotten in your waking moments.
She has a wonderful e-book to teach you how to create your Sanctuary in a powerful way. The book is called Project Sanctuary. The idea of a sanctuary is that of a safe place where you arrive in an imaginary world.
Now Silvia has added an eCourse where you complete assignments and email them back to a tutor, who provides detailed feedback and instruction to take you to the next level of competence.
Active Imagination, Part 1
Jung's technique to communicate with the unconscious
Carl Jung
Jung developed the technique of Active Imagination as a tool for Personal Development.
Active Imagination enables people to communicate with their unconscious. One of the distinct aspects of this technique is that it alternates between simply being receptive to the unconscious, and react to the unconscious with conscious intent.
(This method, like other methods of communicating with the unconscious, is not for people who are psychologically unstable with difficulty separating fantasy from reality.)
Attitude
When you approach hidden parts of yourself, do so with respect. This doesn't mean that you abandon your sense of humor, but you need to value the intelligence of your hidden self, and be prepared to act on vital information.
Great teachers often use laughter to break us out of our routines, and see how ridiculous some of our behavior us. Don't take yourself too seriously, as you explore.
But don't treat the search for knowledge from your inner self as a joke. It's one of the most profound journeys you can take.
Active Imagination, Part 2
There are two approaches in Active Imagination: Visual and Verbal.
Visual
Close your eyes. Use some powerful image as a starting point. It could be a scene from a haunting dream, or a photograph that you're drawn to.
Get the scene as clear as you can. Then follow your unconscious as it changes the image. One of the clear signs that the unconscious mind is at work is that things change. Dreams always have subtle changes in the environment from moment to moment. In our conscious reality, people don't suddenly change in age, size, etc.
Let the scene change. That's how your unconscious will "speak" to you. As you continue to let the scene change, imagine yourself speaking with the characters who appear before you, and listen or "look" for their answers.
Verbal
Start a dialogue with a person or object who you feel might help you.
Talk out loud, write down the dialogue, or imagine it inside of your head - whichever lets you connect the best with your unconscious. After the unconscious "speaks" to you, then think consciously about what was said and respond.
Then relax your mind, re-establish the unconscious flow, and listen again.
Write It Down
The information you receive from your unconscious may become clearer to you at a later time. Be sure to record your sessions in some kind of journal for later review.
Imagination and Image Streaming
Win Wenger's technique to open the unconscious
Image Streaming is an incredible technique developed by Dr. Win Wenger to increase your ability to visualize, increase neural links, and increase your intelligence.
Practice it for about 20 minutes each day, for at least three weeks. You'll notice a change in your ability to process information, and your ability to visualize will be noticeably strengthened.
The Exercise
1. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
2. You will be using your imagination and describing aloud what you experience.
Dr. Wenger recommends speaking to a live person. Next best is having a tape recorder in front of you.
Let your imagination roam.
Describe everything you experience even if it vague.
Describe aloud every detail of what you are experiencing. Sometimes you'll experience many senses and sometimes only one or two.
Don't force it. Just describe what you're experiencing
If you see something, describe its texture, shape, color, etc.
If you feel a physical sensation, describe everything about it.
Describe your experience even if it seems nonsensical.
3. Continue to do this for 20 minutes
This exercise encourages your whole brain to work together as you use verbal skills together with your imagination.
Dr. Wenger's book, The Einstein Factor has more information about this great technique.
Imaginary Friends and Inner Guides
I feel left out, sort of.I never had an imaginary playmate as a child.
Maybe it's because I was an early reader, and I read all the myths and science fiction that I could handle.
In my imagination, I built worlds and strange creatures to live in them.
When I was 10, I was out of school for 3 months with Mono.
I had a tutor who would come to my house and teach me.
She was enthralled with the stories and crazy drawings that I would make of fantastic creatures.
Imagination has the power to create other worlds, and perhaps something even stranger:other versions of us.
Our unconscious, and our imagination is perfectly capable of creating other personalities which look at the world in different way than our waking consciousness, and have different skills.
This capability can manifest in a pathological way as multiple personalities.
Imaginary friends and inner guides are two more healthy ways in which we create personalities who can offer us perspectives on the world that we're otherwise afraid or unwilling to look at.
Here are a number of interesting links to articles on imaginary friends in childhood:
Should You be Concerned About Imaginary Friends?
Imaginary Friends
Article by Ursula Leguin on Imaginary Friends
Personal Stories of Imaginary Childhood Friends
Imagination, Myth, Archetypes, and The Hero's Journey
Modern fantasy and science fiction works, along with comics have supplanted the classic mythology for most people. The images and themes of Star Wars and The Matrix are more widely known than Greek Mythology.
The Psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote extensively about myth and certain common elements/metaphors that recur again and again. These metaphors are called Archetypes. He suggested that these metaphors/symbols are part of the makeup of the human psyche, and are universally found across all cultures and times.
Myths and archetypes are the language of our unconscious.
Joseph Campbell did wonderful work on archetypes. He identified a pattern of archetypes that recur over and over within stories, which he called the Hero's Journey. It's a pattern of events and challenges that an individual faces as he pursues a goal and faces change.
Mythology and legends focus on stories of heroes.
But there are great lessons for each of us on facing challenge and change, and putting our experience to use for ourselves and others.
The Hero's Journey as presented by Campbell is rich with ideas, and a bit complex to read.
A simpler, more accessible presentation of it, oriented toward the writer, is The Writer's Journey. It uses numerous examples from popular movies to explain the archetypes associated with the journey.
Myth, Archetypes, and Hero's Journey Links
- Mythic Resources ~ Myth, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and Archetypal Psychology
- If you are interested in mythology, dreams, fairytales, imagination, archetypes, and the ideas of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, you have come to the right place.
- The Hero's Journey: A resource for educators, teachers, and students
- The Hero's Journey in Education is a resource for educators, students and parents. Site includes lesson plans, articles, and links to sites related to the journey, education, psychology, and mythology.
- Archetypes 101
- This page gives a simple explanation of archetype and describes the various archetypes used in Carol S. Pearson's books.
- Robert L. Moore, PhD - The Quartet - Overview
- About Robert Moore's quartet of books on archetypes in the male personality.
- Greek Gods in Mythology and as Archetypes in Your Personality
- The myths of the Greek gods entertain and instruct us. These stories illuminate the patterns of the lives of contemporary men just as they did many centuries ago.
- Encyclopedia Mythica
- The premier encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, and religion.
- Your Own Hero's Journey
- Apply the ideas from Hero's Journey to your own life and Personal Development
Books on Archetypes and the Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 2nd Edition
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Dreams and Inward Journeys: A Rhetoric and Reader for Writers, Fifth Edition
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World
Amazon Price: $12.92 (as of 10/07/2008)
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine
Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 10/07/2008)
Play and learning are powered by imagination
As a child I loved to play, and I still do. I'm never so happy as when I'm playing with my children. When we play together, we let go of many of the rules that pretend to define us and shape us, and leave us free to explore.Children are the greatest learners in the world, and they live for play.
Play, like imagination, is about stretching our boundaries and trying on another shape.
That's the power of imagination. We let go of the edge of reality. We let go of the certainty of everything we think we know...
and we play with possibility,
and we learn.
Video: Introduction to Mindmapping
from the creator of Mindmapping, Tony Buzan
Imagination, Creativity, and Play Articles from Fearless Dreams Blog
Possibility, Greatness, and Getting Unstuck
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byVideo: Mindmapping with Stephen Pierce
From a dynamic and brilliant author and presenter, Stephen Pierce.
#1
Mind Mapping by Stephen Pierce 1 point
Imagination and Learning Books
The Einstein Factor: A Proven New Method for Increasing Your Intelligence by Win Phd Wenger
Increasing your intelligence, connecting with your more...9 points
The Learning Power of Laughter: Over 300 Playful Games and Activities that Promote Learning with Young Children by Jackie Silberg
Over 300 playful games, activities, and ideas that more...6 points
Your Child at Play Two to Three Years: Growing Up, Language, and the Imagination (Your Child at Play Series) by Marilyn Segal
Growing Up, Language, and the Imagination. This se more...1 point
Video: Do Schools Kill Creativity?
Imagination and Learning Links
Project Renaissance with Win Wenger, Ph.D.
Increase your IQ and unleash your Einstein Factor. more...10 points
Innovation, creativity and brainstorming resources from InnovationTools
InnovationTools is your source for the best articl more...6 points
Kieran Egan's page
Kieran Egan's work on imagination and learning has more...2 points
The Touchstone Center for Children
Educational and arts organization exploring and pr more...2 points
Memory, imagination, and learning
The influence of what is commonly called the techn more...1 point
Storyline Design - Teaching / Learning Method
Storyline is a Scottish educational method that ma more...1 point
The Online Waldorf Library
Waldorf Schools believe that imagination is an imp more...1 point
NJCU - Center for the Imagination in Language Learning
Home of the Center for the Imagination in Language more...1 point
The Center for Creative Emergence
New approaches for new solutions. Harnessing the u more...0 points