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“Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability to form new images and sensations in the mind that are not perceived through senses such as sight, hearing, or other senses. Imagination helps make knowledge applicable in solving problems and is fundamental to integrating experience and the learning process.”-Wikipedia

I believe that imagination is one of the most powerful tools that we have. Some  victims of the Holocaust were able to emotionally survive the atrocities that they went through, by using their imagination actively.

The other day when Natalie was feeling nervous about going to her new school, I gave her some tips about how to deal with stress in the middle of a difficult situation. This is a silly but effective technique that I taught myself as a little girl in Cuba and it works great. I still use it. This is how it goes:

1. Take a deep breath (good for your brain) and then put all your focus on your surroundings, don’t think too much about yourself. 

2. Find 3 interesting things around you. It could be an object, a person, a color, anything.

3. Then, make up a story connecting the 3 of them.

Natalie was excited to see how great this worked. What it does is that it stops you from feeling too self-conscious. Then, it gives you material to let your imagination go wild. The stories that come out are normally funny. You end up smiling and feeling relaxed and more in control, because instead of letting your brain carry you away in wrong directions, you are taking “him” wherever you want, with the help of your imagination. You should try it.

♣

 And since we are talking about imagination, here I want to share something else. Adapted from a course material from The Open University, the infographic below looks at 12 concepts of imagination in detail.  The ‘twelve conceptions of imagination’ stem from a 2003 paper by Leslie Stevenson, who looked to distinguish the meanings of imagination.

Here you can read more about creativity and the 12 conceptions of imagination.

Have a wonderful and creative day!

Elsita 🙂