Imagination

The greatest gift the human race has is the imagination. Without it we would never have advanced as far as we have. Without the ability to imagine a better future we never would have been motivated enough to create modern marvels, but we would simply live on instinct like the rest of the animal kingdom. So I suppose you could say it's our ability to imagine that makes us human. Growing up, I was always encouraged to stretch and exercise my imagination by my grandma. She also encouraged me to read and write, and was a huge influence on my continued interest in English to this day. My Grandma understood the importance of creativity, and I think she always knew I was suited for a more artistic job than a more logic oriented one. It makes sense that I'm a daydreamer today. I spend countless hours imagining fictional scenarios, some I think I will use as a starting point for actual story-lines I want to write, but most of the time it's just for me to escape into a better world than this one. Which isn't to say that I don't love the reality I live in, but I also can't deny that I'm a bit of an escapist.

I dream of supernatural things, science-fiction things, and even things set in reality. I dream of one day getting married and starting a family. I dream of having a career that I love and pays well. I dream of having a career I love that doesn't pay well. I dream of living in New York, or London, or traveling. I dream of becoming a companion (and love interest) of the Doctor. I dream of finding out I'm a mutant and joining the X-Men, or developing mystical powers and becoming a member of the Avengers. I dream of being famous and talking on the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson. I dream of getting a kitten. I dream of being a total Batman-style vigilante, or Catwoman-style super thief. I dream of mental instability. I dream of fairy tails. I dream of heroes, and villains, and sometimes heroes who are villains and villains who are heroes. I dream of good and evil and all that gray area in-between.

And that's just the tip of the iceburg. I daydream constantly. When I'm watching movies or TV shows I daydream myself superimposed in the show, a character added by me. I give myself different backstories, depending on the story, and even abilities. My imagination is constantly active, it's constantly feeding me and by living my life and absorbing any and all information that catches my interest I'm also feeding my imagination. Because even a powerful imagination is limited by what you know. Someone who's never seen the color red can't imagine the color red, and in that same vein someone who's never opened their mind and experienced what life has to offer is limited in their imagination. You need to be open to new experiences to fully develop as a person, and you need the imagination to understand your potential.

After all, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.