You know, imagination is rarely the subject of conversations.
We know it exists, but no one speaks much of it, and most of us don't understand how it truly works. We take it for granted and often say lightly; " use your imagination". But what is it really? Where is it located in us, how does it work and would we have "imagination"?
From what I understand, through my experimentation, imagination is probably the essential and primary tool to create. Not only for art but to create the reality we are living.
So basically everything we created, as a species comes first and above all from the imagination realm.
The well-respected anthropologist, Wade Davis, goes as far as say that cultures were born of the imagination. See TED talk below; it's worth it.
That means if we look at our collective narrative and the popular culture we can directly see how we, as a species, are using our imagination.
If we look at history, in all various cultures, we can also see if imagination was thriving at that time.
Today, I see a world where imagination is underused and poorly cultivated. Imagination is rarely encouraged, practised or explored. I do believe that we can tap into much greater potentials using our given tool by focusing it and practising consciously.
Now about light painting. I see that we have a creative form of art that enhance our inwards abilities.
Light painting is, by nature, connected to the imagination. Creating without seeing what we do in the dark until it's finished, is a blessing to this ability to imagine. It is directly an art of the imagination. Manifesting in the moment, seeing it or having a glimpse of what will come out in our mind's eye.
I believe that the more we light painting, the better we can imagine. Therefore, once this skill in place, it naturally applies to all other parts of our lives. Then we can enhance our reality and create richer personal and collective cultures.
"Our job is to imagine a better future because if we can imagine it, we can create it. But it starts with that imagination. The future that we can imagine shouldn't be a dystopian vision of robots that are wiping us out, of climate change that is going to destroy our society. It should be a vision of how we will rise to the challenges that we face in the next century, that we will build an enduring civilization, and that we will build a world that is better for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It should be a vision that we will become one of those long-lasting species rather than a flash in the pan that wipes itself out because of its lack of foresight.
We are at a critical moment in human history. In the small, we are at a critical moment in our economy, where we have to make it work better for everyone, not just for a select few. But in the large, we have to make it better in the way that we deal with long-term challenges and long-term problems".
Imagination also called the faculty of imagining, is the creative ability to form images, ideas, and sensations in mind without any immediate input of the senses (such as seeing or hearing). Imagination helps make knowledge applicable in solving problems and is fundamental to integrating experience and the learning process. A basic training for imagination is listening to storytelling (narrative), in which the exactness of the chosen words is the fundamental factor to "evoke worlds".