Imagination

Have you ever wondered why we have an imagination? Do you realize how important your imagination is? I had never really given it much thought until I read about it in a devotion.

"Everything starts with imagination. Nothing becomes reality unless somebody thinks of it. Every great business, every great company, every piece of art, every musical note all have one thing in common: somebody imagined it before it became reality. Nothing happens unless somebody imagines it." -Rick Warren

It is amazing when you think about it. Everything you see, and some things you don't see, started out as an idea in someone's mind. From giant skyscrapers to microscopic computer chips began as ideas dreamed up by those with great imagination. Everyone is born with the capacity to imagine. Small children use their imaginations without batting an eye. Give them a cape and they will become a superhero or a mushroom. Give them a pot and they might pretend they are a chef or they might be a drummer. They might even fill it with water and take a bath! My point is that children imagine with ease. Why do we lose that ability?

We need a vivid imagination to solve problems. Only by imagining the outcomes, can we make a wise choice. Imagination is important for the development of technology. How do we know what to build unless someone sees it in their mind first? When we drive through a big city, I marvel at the intersecting freeways with buzzing traffic, the underpasses, the overpasses, the loop-de-loos, and curli-cues. Traffic never stops and heads off to wherever in every direction. Someone saw that in their mind before it was built! There might be help with a computer these days, but it was in someone's head first.

I think fostering the imagination of little people is important. Let them play. Let them dream. Let them paint palm trees on their bedroom walls. And if you will play and dream, you might find your imagination waking up from its adult slumber. If we can imagine it, it can be!