By Magen McCrarey
Staff Writer
LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. —
As children, we let our minds run wild while laying out in the summer’s tall grass as we gazed up at fluffy clouds illustrating zoo animals. We turned bath time into a roaring night out to sea as waves submerged our bars of soap and for girls, it was our only chance to truly become a little mermaid. Imagination has power, it can turn an ordinary world into a magnificent reality and it can change the perspective for generations to come.
Many excuse creativity for imagination, while the two are actually quite different. One only takes a simple brush stroke or click of a camera’s shutter, while the other can take a simple concept and turn it into an intricate idea executed through an impossible medium.
As we grow older, we subdue our personal games of imaginative ideas and trade them in for what our teachers and mentors deem as practicalities. Practicalities tend to build walls around our free thinking and rebuke our marvel at the absurd.
Imagination at its best within our immediate surroundings is architectural design, literary fiction and those who are able to see an impossible outcome to a grim social issue. Examples of these are the city of Dubai’s unique skyscrapers, which have contributed to the city’s recently acquired title of the world’s tallest skyline; J.K. Rowling and her captivating story of Harry Potter that has swept the nation; and Martin Luther King Jr., who had a dream that is progressively becoming a reality still to this day.
On many occasions I imagine what I can do to raise the bar on my quality of life, and others surrounding me. I catch myself daydreaming about my ideal life, or next vacation with my feet submerged in the sand. But what the world needs more of is not daydreamers, but imagineers to go do and make a magnificent reality.
mmccrarey@sentinel-echo.com
