Care for Your Imagination

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." -- Albert Einstein

Don't take it from me, Einstein valued imagination more than knowledge. This purpose of this post is to encourage you to take tender loving care of your own imagination. What you appreciate, will appreciate (as in its value!)

Think about this. Everything around us was first an idea. Take the shirt you have on, well, let's take the shirt I have on. More than 10 years ago, someone who works for Izod envisioned a line of long-sleeved cotton t-shirts. And this person particularly pictured one in black. And I'm wearing it and enjoying it today.

Even the food you eat was grown and processed a certain way because of some farmers imagined a non-existent harvest first. Everything used to be grown organically and no one ever gave it a second thought. I don't think the Pilgrims said to each other, "Hey, let's move to that colony -- so we can grow everything organically!" Today we value this mode of production so much that we pay a premium for "organic" produce. Imagination precedes creation, and re-creation.

A certain confidence is required to imagine that things could be different, or imagine things that don't yet exist. To flourish, your imagination needs intentional support from you, protection from danger, nourishment, and rest. Maybe your imagination needs a break from electronic media. Feed it some poetry and gardening. Imagine the possibilities.