Imagination is a Super-Power able to Boost Creative Potential & Transform Us
Originally posted in Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-stories-we-tell/202408/rediscovering-wonder-how-to-spark-adult-imagination
Children see the world naively, with curiosity, wonder and unfettered imaginations. When exploring the world, a child’s imagination is spontaneous, creative and unconstrained by shored-up beliefs about reality and social norms. When we grow up, this creative, flexible imagination can be put to the side. As adults our cognitive processes, including creativity and imagination, become more structured and reality-bound, informed by what we have learned and our lived experience (Weisberg & Gopnik, 2013). In other words, the quality of our creative thinking changes with developmental demands, becoming more practical, as it becomes more goal-directed, in the service of realistic problem solving. Childhood reflects a period of exploration for reality and social construction. In adulthood, executive functioning takes center stage and imagination becomes more complex, incorporating abstract thinking, planning, decision making, and mature empathy (Taylor & Carlson, 1997).
As stress and responsibilities increase, and the focus of imagination shifts to efficient problem-solving, one’s available mental space for creativity can become inflexible, or get squeezed out altogether. The imaginative ‘play’ of childhood declines as adult’s engagement with playful activities decreases and we turn our minds more often to routines, daily pressures, career and family responsibilities (Pellegrini & Smith, 1998). But, a lack of imagination can produce significant negative impacts in multiple areas including problem-solving, emotional resilience, social skills development, job performance and personal fulfillment (King & Hicks, 2014). When your imagination becomes rigid or is underutilized, you may struggle to find novel solutions to new situations, envision and plan for future scenarios, and/or experience social difficulties due to lessoned ability to understand other people’s point of view, or empathy. To fully flourish as adults, we must be intentional about nurturing and expanding our imaginative capacities, working with changing demands across the lifespan.
What is Imagination and What are it’s Benefits?
Imagination is a complex cognitive process involving the ability to create mental images, ideas, and constructs that are not physically present, including symbols and other representations of things (Currie & Ichino, 2013). A robust imagination improves cognitive flexibility, creative thinking, and problem solving; as well as, bettering our ability to connect and bond with others, manage stress, decrease anxiety and process difficult emotions (Drapeau, 2018).
Curiosity is closely linked to imagination. It is a desire to acquire new knowledge and experiences. Curiosity stimulates and enhances imaginative thinking as it encourages the exploration of new possibilities and solutions (Silvia & Kimbrel, 2010). Curiosity and imagination often overlap. Both revolve around novelty. Further, they exhibit a reciprocal relationship, driving and reinforcing one another. Both fuel creativity where one’s imaginative ideas are transformed into something interesting, valuable and novel.
How do I Improve my Imagination?
Some people are more creative by nature, so there is a genetic link that influences imagination and creativity; however, these traits are strongly influenced by environmental factors and individual life experiences. Even if you are not naturally a highly creative individual, your imagination, as an adult, can be nurtured by implementing several specific practices.
When you intentionally participate in creative activities, you are stimulating your imagination. The particular activity you choose is up to you – it’s about finding something that engages you so you’ll return to it over and over again. Activities like writing, drawing, painting or playing music are familiar ways to enhance imagination but even coloring, doodling and viewing art have been shown to enhance imaginative thinking, improve mood and increase emotional wellness (King & Hicks, 2014).
There are other ways to stimulated your imagination (Drapeau, 2018). Spending time in nature enhances imaginative thinking, by providing exposure to a rich array of sensory experiences such as diverse shapes, textures and sounds, as well as movement, open spaces and natural materials. When we become more connected to the natural world around us, it opens us up and generates positive emotions like joy and calm that increase focus and spark creativity. Other activities also nurture imagination. Mindfulness and meditation reduce stress and foster a more positive and expansive imagination. Engagement in positive social interactions releases a cascade of dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, creating an optimal environment for creative imagining.
Perhaps the most critical practice for improving your imagination is becoming more open to new experiences. Openness to experience and exposure to novel situations is very strongly correlated with increased creativity, curiosity, personal growth, aesthetic appreciation, absorption and flow, divergent ideation, innovative problem-solving strategies, and willingness to entertain a variety of perspectives (Abu, et al. 2023). When you are open to novel experiences, people and places you are more likely to gain new knowledge and consider alternative points of view so your creative imagination is optimally positioned to spark and recognize new, original ideas.
A practice related to openness is intellectual risk-taking. Here we are not discussing behavioral recklessness but the kind of risk you experience when you share a unique idea or new solution with other people. Especially when these ideas differ from convention, you are taking a risk. When you put a novel idea out to others, you risk failing or being perceived in a negative light. Keep in mind that risk, opportunity, innovation and failure all overlap with one another. Even in failure, you are learning and growing. Giving in to a fear of failure and rejection restricts idea generation and creative, imaginative thinking. Challenging your conventional thought patterns and employing exploratory thinking are critical tools for expanding your imagination and creativity. We live in a time of terrific uncertainty. Learning to embrace uncertainty and take intellectual risks will open new opportunities, improve the flexibility of your imagination and moreover, enhance your creativity.
A final practice that can help boost your imagination is allowing time for daydreaming. Daydreaming is seen by many people as a waste of time but structured imaginative activities actually promote creative thinking. Positive imagination can lead to creative problem-solving and emotional processing (Smallwood & Schooler, 2015). When we use our minds to simulate imagined worlds and situations, we briefly set aside the mundane and routine aspects of our daily life and, in doing so, invite inspiration. Giving yourself permission to daydream; and, creating space and time to engage in the practice can improve the flexibility of your imagination and foster creativity.
A note for those with children, by fostering your child’s imagination, you are also boosting your own. When you read books or tell stories together, create art, spend time in nature and/or encourage role play and pretending, you are equipping your kids with greater potential for academic achievement, professional innovation and personal fulfillment – but you are also, enhancing your own imagination.
Imagination is pivotal to understanding the world and to propelling us beyond what we know to create new ideas, innovations and build personal growth. When we imagine new ways of living, and are able to imagine the world through the imagination of others, we can begin to create better ways of living. When individuals and groups can identify and pursue alternative futures, our ability to collectively respond to sustainability challenges increases and can inform policy and decision making to the global scale, able to enhance social, ecological, economic and culture well-being in our uncertain world (Moore & Milkoreit, 2020).
References
Abu Raya M., Ogunyemi A.O., Rojas Carstensen V., Broder J., Illanes-Manrique M., Rankin K.P. (2023). The reciprocal relationship between openness and creativity: from neurobiology to multicultural environments. Frontiers in Neurology, 14. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1235348.
Drapeau, S. (2018). Imagery and emotional regulation: A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2406. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02406
Currie, G. & Ichino, A. (2013). Imagination and make-believe from: The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, Routledge. https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203813034.ch31
King, L. A., & Hicks, J. A. (2014). Imagination and the Pursuit of Meaning: The Role of Future-Oriented Thinking in Personal Fulfillment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107,4, 614-627.
Moore, M-L. & Milkoreit, M. (2020). Imagination and transformations to sustainable and just futures. Elem Sci Anth, 8, 1. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2020.081
Pellegrini, A. D. & Smith, P. K. (1998). The Development of Play during Childhood: A Review of the Literature. Child Development, 69, 3, 1004-1021.
Silvia, P. J., & Kimbrel, N. A. (2010). The relationship between openness to experience and creativity: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14,3, 316-332.
Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W. (2015). The science of mind-wandering: Empirically navigating the stream of consciousness. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 487-518. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015331
Taylor, M. & Carlson, S. M. (1997). The Relation Between Individual Differences in Fantasy and Theory of Mind. Child Development, 68(3), 436-455. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.tb01953.
Weisberg, D. S. & Gopnik, A. (2013). Pretense, Counterfactuals, and Bayesian Causal Models: Why What Is Not Real Really Matters. Cognitive Science, 37, 8, 1360-1381. doi:10.1111/cogs.12069
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