The Power of Imagination

Imagine from Latin imaginari  means “to form a mental picture, picture to oneself, imagine”

Reality is filtered to us through our senses and undoubtedly sight is the most immediate and informative. ‘Imaging inside’ involves an inner psychical engagement with the unique repertoire of one’s experiences.

Cognitive scientists hypothesize that our ability to imagine, to come up with mental images and creative new ideas, is the result of a neural network that likely coordinates activity across multiple regions of the brain.

“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.”

– Rollo May, The Courage to Create 

Active engagement with imagination and creative processes therefore helps us to perceive the world in new ways, to identify patterns, to make connections between ideas, objects or experiences to produce new results.

You can activate your creative imagination by doing activities that focus your attention on internal processes of feeling, memory, sensory engagement ie. reading a book, listening to music, drawing, painting, watching a movie, physical exercise