Being a writer, nothing touches me more than imagination! Throughout history nations have been formed, art has been expressed, books have been written, inventions created...all because someone paid attention to their imagination. Emily Rodda,an Australian writer, in The Pigs Are Flying, commented, "I always say nothing you can imagine is totally impossible. It might be unlikely, but that's as far as I'll go." Yes, unlikely...flying machines? Yes, unlikely; vaccinations keeping polio away? Unlikely. Landing on the moon safely? Unlikely. But imagination on the part of engineers, doctors, scientists...made these happen! Orville Wright said, "I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all--while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly." There is another kind that resembles a fantasy life where we discover our dreams. Some of those are bold...what will I become when I grow up? Others have us longing for a good meal midst our hunger, or good grades, even when we do not study! A place to live without war or a home with a loving family. Helen Keller, humanitarian, wrote, "the most beautiful world is always entered through the imagination. If you wish to be something you are not...you shut your eyes, and for one dreamy moment you are that which you long to be." You are reminded she was deaf,blind and mute! Now as the holiday season is in full flow there are folks imagining what they will get for Christmas, what the meal will look like, where will the surprises come from? May I suggest another kind of imagining? Imagine that you can provide for hungry children, homeless teens, or cancer kids...maybe even at the expense of more expensive gifts for family or friends? Can you buy a cow or sheep for a village or donate to hurricane sufferers!? What in your imagination is for others? Eeyore, in Winnie the Pooh, tells us that there is a lack of imagination, especially about his tail..."it's just a Little Bit Extra at the back." What do you imagine that is so small and almost unwanted? May I suggest you dream BIG!and be part of imagining a better world for everyone...not just those closest to us ?Robert Lipsyte, American author, sums it up for me, "imagination prepares us for what's going to happen." May I say...what we make happen? Lets do it! BLESSINGS.
