The Imagination Muscle

I remember when I first realized that everything I bought or had in my home or saw was created by someone. It was a revolutionary thought to me. Someone had the idea to design and make the glasses that I see with, the sweater I'm wearing, the computer I'm typing on...everything! What a world of creativity we live in! Not only to envision a thing but to see it through the process into a real touchable object of beauty. But it takes imagination and imagination is a muscle that resides within all of us. We merely need to exercise it.
I can't tell you how many people I've talked to about writing who say, "I could never do something like that."
My answer is, "Why not?"
When we were kids we knew how to use our imaginations. It was an everyday thing. We called it play. My three-year-old has several imaginary friends that she tells me about on a regular basis. Yesterday her friend Chellie got hit by a train! She knows how to use the muscle of imagination. She exercises it daily, vigorously. She could write far better books than I can! But somehow that muscle seems to weaken over time and we forget how to imagine. We forget how to play. We're all Peter Pan.
But, as any mid-life crisis expert can tell you, it is possible to break out the weight bench and remind those muscles of their function. Start small and work your way up.
Once you start imagining what could be you'll be surprised at what pops out of your mind!
Dullness of mind is a decision not fate.

More tomorrow,
Traci DePree