I picked an oracle card to set the theme for February. I’m finally returning to my practices after a big move, and theming my months is one of my beloved rituals. 

When I saw that the card was labelled imagine, I simultaneously thought: I love imagination and hogwash. 

Imagination. It’s a word played up in the meta-physical and self-help world.

And that’s why it challenges me — I’m not a huge fan of the think it and it will appear belief– more on that another day.

Yet, I’m writing to embrace imagination because I think we need it, desperately.

Ya’ll, I’m concerned we’re losing our ability to imagine.

Why?

The world we live in is so noisy.

I think there’s always so much noise in the world, historically, but today we live in a FULL of noise world. 

With the internet, over-scheduled lives, social media, and choices galore, there’s more information given to us than our brains can handle, I believe.

An over stuffed mind takes little refuge in imagination.

Remedy: disconnect from a electronics for a while, even for a few intentional moments every day.

I do this for about an hour before bed now, and have been reading real books and journaling or connecting with my love instead.

Side perk: I’m sleeping better because of it.

I think we also stay away from imagining because it feels indulgent.

When I take time to creatively imagine, it feels really pleasurable and good. But, I stay away from imagining too much because I think reality (whatever that means) deserves more attention. 

Yet, we need imagination to remember why we are here. We need to keep imagining in order to stay connected to our truth.

Taking time to imagine is linked to our sense of worthiness, belonging, and purpose. 

Here’s an idea. Instead of picking up your phone when you have a moment free, write down your thought or thoughts in a journal or on a post it note.

You could write: text Shannon or look up best price on tires. Or it what you write could be as complex as your next book topic. Whatever it is – honor your imagination and thoughts by storing them, not unleashing them to the wild west internet. (doing this will also help with time management, too). 

Honoring your ideas by writing them down is perfect to do in Winter, or in your Seeking phase for my Soul Cycle students.

Winter calls on us to go inside and listen, rather than act. Spring will come forth and be the time for action.

So, are we losing our ability to imagine?

My answer is no — but we are losing the amount we value imagination. 

Learning to embrace your imagination begins with small steps. Pause. Listen. Reflect. And of course, document those ideas!

What’s your favorite way to imagine? Is it while driving to and fro work? Is it while gazing out of your desk window? Is it while looking at your children (my personal favorite!). Tell me in the comments below.

 Embrace.

R o s e