I Is For Imaginative #DecodingMidlife

Imaginative, an adjective which means having or showing creativity or inventiveness.

I have read numerous articles on imagination being critical for child development. I guess many parents have read these articles as a resource while raising their children.

But did a thought occur to you as an adult to groom yourself to be imaginative? I didn’t until now. But when I started writing for the series ‘Decoding Midlife’, I consciously did a lot of introspection about my abilities, my strengths and weaknesses.

I thought about how I want to see myself in the next 5 years. And being more imaginative and creative was definitely on my list. In the past two years of blogging, I have said a lot about myself on my blog. It’s more about my personal stories. While that is the crux of my blog, however, I also believe, I need to write content which would want my reader to come back to my blog with a hope to read more intriguing content. That’s why now there is definitely a need to become more imaginative. I need to be more observant and look for inspiration to me to write stories.

One would argue that being creative and imaginative are inherent traits. Maybe so. But there is nothing which cannot be learnt. The mind can be conditioned at any age.

Age is not a barrier when you want to develop a new skill or learn something. It’s never too late if there is a will to progress.

So, here is my plan of action to become more imaginative.

Always Dream:

Dreaming is imperative to be imaginative. Once you dream you can think of stories and ideas. Original ideas spring from imagination. Many of us know from experience that best ideas come out of the blue when our minds are elsewhere. Like for me, the best headlines for my blog posts have come when I am in deep sleep. Many a time I wake up and the idea has disappeared from my mind. So now I started following a practice of keeping my diary on my bedside table. Sometimes I do wake up in the middle of the night and jot down ideas from my blog posts.

Read:

I am going to read more this year. I have also registered myself for a reading challenge I Am Up For The 2018 Reading Challenge! Are You? to keep me motivated. My reading nowadays is restricted only to blogs but I need to get back to reading my favourite authors soon.

Take some time off and stay in solitude:

The best time for me to write is always before dawn. I get best ideas when the world hasn’t woken up. I lock myself in a room alone and write. I love to spend this time in solitude with myself. I might not always publish that work on my site. As they may be just random thoughts. But it improves my imagination and creativity.

Be an observer:

As Sudha Murthy says, ‘There are stories around you’.  By observing people, their expressions, their body language I might just find a story to tell the world. Creative people are keen observers, mostly so for writers.

To conclude, I would want to quote Albert Einstein here. It’s simple yet profound.

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’