Use Your Imagination

An unusual thought struck me the other day while I was working. I think about things, people, life, etc. all the time, so that was not unusual. What was unusual about it is that here I was, prepping a house for painting (masking, mainly) which is menial in nature, and not very conducive to profound realizations about life and myself. As a side note, I often listen to the radio (NPR in this case) so that I actually have something to occupy my mind while work is occupying my hands. Listening to someone else talk is also not conducive to deep thinking. (Unless what they're saying is boring - this generally leads to profound thinking or profound napping.)

So back to this thought. Here I am, listening to the radio, working in the heat at a skilled labor job, and somehow this though occurs to me. I have no clue how I ended up thinking about what it was I was thinking about but it happened.

I was thinking about how much my thoughts, interactions, and the way I talk change depending on my context. It's not something I try to do, and often happens out of my control. I know this is typical for most people at some level, but for me it's more extreme. There are many versions of "me" that show up or stay hidden depending on the situation.
Somehow that thought managed to connect to an experience I had years ago with writing. It was a fantasy story, jointly written with friends. Somehow I managed to immerse myself enough into the story (almost miraculous considering how difficult it is for me to truly immerse myself into anything) that I was coming up with ideas and scenes and events - something totally new to me with writing. Imagination. Creativity.

Now this all happened in about the same time it took you to read the first paragraph, and I haven't even told you exactly what my thought was. Well, it was this: I can use my imagination to place myself into different contexts. I can use my imagination to circumvent the myriad of mental blocks that I consistently run into each time I'm in a different situation with different people who talk a different way.

I can use my imagination to be myself, no matter the context.


In fact, I have already implemented this "technique," if you will, in my musicianship. I have trained myself in different styles, and I am able to pull those styles out, at will, any time, anywhere, with anyone. I don't play irish music only when I'm playing with irish musicians. I don't play classical only when I'm with other classical players. But this is because I've made a study of doing so. I've developed a very concrete structure of what exactly these styles consist of so that I can bring them out at any time.
I also use it with specific pieces. Well, somewhat. But I need to more - it's very effective. It helps eliminate nervousness and the selective loss of focus and memory that sometimes occurs when performing.

I've just never thought of working on using my imagination to be able to present the aspects of myself that I feel are central to who I am, and which like to hide most of the time.

So how am I going to work on this? I'm not sure yet. I've never heard of anyone talk about techniques of imagination. But it's just as much a mental exercise or activity as anything else - memory, logic, motor control, analysis, contemplation. It's not "a kind of magic" that only shows up when it wants to.

So go out and exercise your imagination!