IMAGINATION

"To really feel a forest canopy, we must use different senses, and often the most useful one, is the sense of imagination." Joan Maloof

When you were little, where did your imagination take you? Were you sailing on the ocean blue, searching for gold with your pirate crew? Were you a damsel in a castle, waiting for a knight to save you? How about a super hero, rescuing the world from evil villains?

Where does your imagination take you now? Does it take you to frustrations and stress? How about anxiety and negativity? Do you think of, "if money wasn't an issue, I'd (insert wish here)"? Do you dream of love, success, family?

What would the 4 year old version of you say to you about what you fill your brain with?

My 4 year old is becoming obsessed with Power Rangers (apparently they are making a comeback). He has been afraid of going upstairs and playing alone until last week. When I told him how proud I was of him for being so brave, his response made me chuckle. "When I'm a Power Ranger, practicing my ninja kicks, I'm not afraid of anything. When I'm just Cooper, I don't fight the monsters."

Thinking back to that conversation, I'm kind of amazed. When we put the limit to our capabilities and our thoughts, fear takes the wheel and the monsters fill our heads. When we fill our minds with thoughts of goals, wishes or dreams, we can fight off whatever obstacles come our way.

Despite what my 4 year old thinks, I don't really believe that you can become a Power Ranger when you grow up, or a pirate, a damsel stuck in a castle, or a super hero ready for action. I do think you are capable of whatever you work for. The definition of imagination is the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality.

There are so many successful Landscape Photographers- that is reality. That's not some wild thing I've created in my mind. I have the capabilities to do just that- I just have to work my butt off for it. It's possible for you to lose weight, stop biting your nails, buying that house, paying off those debts, going back to school- you CAN do those things. You aren't imagining some fairytale, those things CAN be reality. You just have to set your mind to it, throw away those limits and work hard for them. Let your forest of imagination, branch into opportunities of reality.