Philosophy of Imagination*Twenty Eight

Imagination is amazing. Probably the best in the Universe as all feelings and emotion and consciousness are born of it. The physical World and the people, animals and nature are the only thing that out-cools Imagination.

As with everything in the Universe, Imagination is half light and dark. Your Imagination can conjure greatness beyond compare. Love, hope, happiness, films, paintings, architecture, physics, biology, saving planets, saving lives, science fiction, spaceships, unicorns, unicorns that fly spaceships, ii(that's my new acronym for 'Into Infinite'--meaning I could keep listing things forever). 

Your Imagination can conjure fear, hate and darkness in equal measure. Murder, betrayal, car crashes, gossip, the World against you, hate, demons, blood, evil, failure, worthlessness, loneliness, apathy, ego, racism, hopelessness, ii.

The key is to keep as much focus as you can on the Light. The darkness needs to be there for balance, but it can sit way in the back in the obstructed view seats. Fear doesn't have to be part of your daily life. And shouldn't be. Bad things happen all the time, every second of every day to someone in the World, but that doesn't mean we have to live in fear of it. It becomes crippling. We deal with bad situations as they come. They will make you sad and scared and fearful, but when those emotions come, if you have a strong Imagination of the light, the one that you cultivate every day, you will be able to push those dark Images away and see a future of light, of overcoming all evil/fear/hardships that life throws at you.

Imagine that you get a call from the police. Your brother/sister has been in a car accident. As you rush to the hospital, you are scared and fearful. For most of us, our Imagination takes us to the worst outcome. Paralyzed. Disfigured. Brain damage. Death. This is normal, but if you can also Imagine the light alongside it. It's a fender bender. A few broken bones. It will be hard at first, but they will make a full recovery. The stronger the light side of your Imagination, the easier it is to nullify or even ignore fear.

If we can ignore fear, we will reach out further, we will try new things, things we've been putting off, go places, meet people -- live! We will live a fuller life, devoid of fear. Even the small fears we have, like what are people are thinking of me? Do I look good? Am I doing a good job at work? Will this old yogurt give me food poisoning? You will go and do without thinking about or being hindered by fear. You can be your beautiful self. 

Imagine how much more you will do and get done if you don't have to ponder the fear and uncertainty of every choice and decision that you make. Sure, you should still be cautious, but there is a huge difference between fear and caution. Caution is being safe, taking into account things that may likely go wrong and taking measures to mitigate problems. Fear is mostly unfounded events. Like being murdered if you go for a walk at night. Fear makes you stay inside and watch TV instead of getting exercise, enjoying fresh air and talking with people you come across. See how much fear can negatively affect even a very small decision, small decisions that we make thousands of a day. You see how much fear plays into our everyday.

Imagine light. Imagine how much fun you will have. Imagine the experience you will have and the stories you can tell for the rest of your life. No one tells stories about watching TV. 

Get out and live! Don't let fear cripple you. Think on why certain things make you scared and fearful. See if they are caution or rational fear. If they aren't, dismiss the fear and plunge ahead. Imagining the light will get you there. The only thing you want to blow out of proportion is how much fun you will have!

Philosophy of Imagination*Twenty Three

You only have to know one thing. One absolute truth. It is the seed, the seed that will grow into your love and beauty and happiness and knowledge and experience -- I could go on 'and-ing' forever, because that seed will make everything better. You have to know for sure, it must be unshakeable, a truth that is never lost, no matter how many naysayers and assholes and rules say 'no'. You must hang on to this 'SEED OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH'. Forever.

Everyone has an Imagination. No one can see or steal or corrupt it in any way. It is safe and sound. It is your seed and it is impossible to steal or destroy (even after you're dead and gone). Your Imagination is powerful and allows you to do anything you want. Whatever you can Imagine, you can make happen. That's it!

Albert Einstein said 'Imagination is more important than knowledge.' I agree, but I would go further. 'Imagination is more important than everything.' it is where everything lives and grows. It is love, feelings, fun, laughter, music--I'm and-ing again. So, with that said...

The only truth you absolutely need in life is that YOU/YOUR IMAGINATION allows you to do anything!!! Anything!!! So fucking cool! That is your Seed. Help it grow and you can make a beautiful World for yourself!!! Start with changing your World and when your ready, you will know how to help the rest of the World.

Imagine every day. Imagine yourself swallowing a whole watermelon and spitting the seeds out like a hose. Imagine bouncing up and down a power line. Imagine running and jumping over a mountain and having a chat with a crow on the way down. Imagine being happy every day. Imagine doing what you love for money. Imagine floating in a blue lakeland knowing that your future is love and beauty and happiness. Imagine eating a ice cream cone ten feet tall, that never melts. Imagine everything and your body will follow.

Philosophy of Imagination*Eighteen

Where's happy?

Hopefully all of them. Throw a rock and you'll hit happy. Have you ever been to an amazing concert? The band is playing the best song they've ever written, an energy and vitality like it was the first time they played it and crowd is going apeshit like it's the first time they've heard this musical genius!

What is that special feeling that everyone (except maybe the drunk people barfing in the port-potties) is experiencing? That euphoric happiness that is so strong, if a bomb was dropped on top of all of you, everyone would be fine with it. What is that connectedness that makes you lock eyes with a total sweaty stranger three rows down, while you dance and sing the lyrics to each other? Invisible, but palpable. Free, but invaluable. Strong, but fleeting. What makes this happen?

This can be said of all events where groups of people come together to share a joyous experience. Sports, movies, parades. It can also evaporate quickly and leave sad, anxious, angry feelings if something goes wrong. Like when your football team is winning big and the other team slowly comes back and that moment when they take the lead, its as if everyone was struck with depression and insecurities. They always use the term 'the air got sucked out of the stadium'. What is that? What sucks the collective exuberance out of a crowd? 

Imagination. Our Collective Imagination gets condensed, concentrated when we're all together, sharing an experience. Our Imaginations are working together toward a common idea -- how awesome this concert/game is going to continue to be. The best fucking concert ever! That's what the Collective Imagination is doing and it's so powerful, it can suck in everyone. 

If something goes wrong, someone gets hurt, the music stops, your team goes down late in the game, the same Collective Imagination that created the happiness hysteria, turns to Imagining the worst. The ripples encompassing everyone. Is the person gonna die? That might have been the last note my favorite band ever plays? Our season is over.

Overwhelmingly these events stay positive, fueling our happiness and love for each other without a word being spoken. How can we create more events and coming together moments where we tap into the beauty and power of our Collective Imagination? We should have huge coming togethers for no other reason than coming together.

For love alone.

Philosophy of Imagination*Thirteen

I got looking back at my posts so far. I sound like I've never had a problem in the World. That my life has been sunshine, popsicles and rainbows. Like everyone else on this planet, that can't be further from the truth. Happiness is something that has to be worked at and I have worked hard to get happy. Although the gush of good vibes and positivity can seem cloying and obnoxious in abundance, I will make no apologies of it. I am not always happy. Sometimes I'm fucking pissed and sad and lost. My work to make happiness the largest part of my 'Feelings Pie' is what I'm celebrating. Imagination has got me here. No apologies.

Why do we want to be happy? Why is that the feeling that we're all chasing? How do we stay happy? These are questions that we need to answer for ourselves, I'm only hoping to spur thought, to awaken the conscious to think about such things. 

Everyone should be free to do whatever they want -- *as long as it's not hurting anyone else. ANYONE ELSE. The only rule, The Golden Rule. However, if you have never taken a deep dive into yourself and asked yourself a few of the existential questions, you should try it. A deep dive. Deep. A dive where shit starts to get scary and dark, but you don't turn back. I promise, as dark as it may seem, if you keep on diving, it will begin to get light again. More light than you've ever seen. It's beautiful -- there goes my inexhaustible happiness rearing it's smiling head. No apologies.

I hate rules. More than anything. I came up with the three. The only three that I follow. You are free to adopt them, hate them, be ambivalent toward them. That's up to you. I will never stand in the way of what you want to do and neither should anyone else (*as long as you're not hurting anyone). I wanted to share, though. They're pretty awesome.

1. Be good to everyone and everything.       

2. Always be in the now with an eye on the future.

3. Imagine always! Have fun! Create!

That last one kind of sounds like three, but I assure you, Imagination begets fun, which begets creativity. If you've got one you think I've missed, I'd love to hear it and why you think it's important?

Give it a shot. Apply these to all that you do. Be conscious. Dive deep. Unapologetic happiness may start to feel less cloying and obnoxious. Love you all!