Imagination Is More Important than Knowledge

 

You may recognize the title of this post as a quote from Albert Einstein. Things we know don't contribute much to new ways of living or new contributions to the world. Imagination does produce such new beginnings.

Everything in our world is created twice. First it is imagined by an individual, and if pursued, the thing imagined becomes a reality in the outside world. Yet children are discouraged from having imagination. They are discouraged from daydreaming--which is the same thing as imagining. 

Michael Flatley, the creator of Lord of the Dance, said in an interview that he was always getting in trouble in school for daydreaming, but the things he was dreaming about became his production of Lord of the Dance, which earned him millions of dollars.

Sir Ken Robinson has pointed out how schools destroy creative thinking in children by emphasizing critical thinking and suppressing imagination. One of my granddaughters recently said to me, "I can dream," when she expressed an idea and I replied, "maybe." To which I said, "You bet. Keep on dreaming. And don't let anybody tell you to stop."

We must encourage our children to dream. As it says in a Bible verse, "Without vision, the people perish." It is dreams that keep us motivated. When our dreams die, so do we in a practical sense; we become the walking dead.

Furthermore, dream big! You can always create a smaller outcome than you imagined, but if you dream small, your creation will never exceed it.

I want to encourage you to imagine every facet of your life in new ways. Your job, your relationships, finances, home, schools, church, and even your appearance. What if? What if these could be better, faster, cheaper, more fun, less difficult, less expensive, and so on?

More to come as I imagine it. Subscribe if you want to receive future posts.