Day dreams and reading

When I was younger, I loved going to the library and exploring the wonderful world that was opened up to me through books. I would read a book and then create daydreams of how I would solve the mystery or slay the dragon or invent the machine to save the world. Those were magical times for me.

I still believe that dreams, daydreams, you know the ones you dream with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing. These are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The creative person will be most apt to understand the power of image-making. The perception of the image, to help create, invent, and encourage society to understand and grasp the implications, of the image is important. The control by the creator which is necessary for the successful expression of the idea may vary in vividness and strength: but this is a difference of degree in Imagination, not a difference in kind.

If you have a grandchild or a child who has a creative imagination, help them build their worlds and create. Help them to understand that fiction is something they can build using 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and they, and they alone, using their imagination, can create a world and people to fill this world. Using writing they get to feel things, visit places and worlds they would never otherwise know, and they can share these with their friends, family, and maybe one day the world.

Start children young by telling them fairy stories. Our society has tamed down the original stories, so our grandchildren and children are not scared to death by these stories anymore. However, fairy stories give children things to think about with images to think about. They also give our children the sense that all kinds of things are possible. Because we tell the story to impart a moral, the children may hear a fairy story that is ridiculous or terrifying, or consolatory.

Start by telling or reading fairy stories that capture the imagination. Help by asking your grandchild or child to retell the story in their own words, using their imagination. The more imagination the child has, being an untrained listener and reader, the more she will do for herself. He will, at a mere hint from the author, flood wretched material with suggestion images and ideas, and they will never guess that she is herself chiefly making what she enjoys. So, the love of reading and day dreaming will continue.

Imagination

Imagination is a wonderful skill to have, I believe that most of us have this skill. Having said that, I also believe that over time, many of us discount the importance of imagination in our lives. It was important when we were young and is just as important when we are retired. Dr. Murray Hunter of the University of Malaysia Perlis explains that imagination is, in part, about filling in gaps in our knowledge.

“Imagination is the ability to form mental images, sound passages, analogies, or narratives of something that is not perceived through our senses. Imagination is a manifestation of our memory and enables us to scrutinize our past and construct hypothetical future scenarios that do not yet but could exist.

Imagination also gives us the ability to see things from other points of view and empathize with others. Imagination extends our experience and thoughts, enabling a personal construction of a worldview that lowers our sense of uncertainty. Imagination enables us to create new meanings from cognitive cues or stimuli within the environment, which on occasions can lead to new insights.” And, Dr. Hunter explains it’s not always a conscious process.

The reason imagination is just as important now is we have different types of imagination we use on a regular basis:

1. Effective Imagination combines information together to synergize new concepts and ideas.

2. Intellectual Imagination is utilized when considering and developing hypotheses from different pieces of information or pondering over various issues of meaning.

3. Imaginative Fantasy Imagination creates and develops stories, pictures, poems, stage-plays, and the building of the esoteric.

4. Empathy Imagination helps a person know emotionally what others are experiencing from their frame and reference.

5. Strategic Imagination is concerned with the vision of ‘what could be, the ability to recognize and evaluate opportunities by turning them into mental scenarios.

6. Emotional Imagination is concerned with manifesting emotional dispositions and extending them into emotional scenarios.

7. Dreams are an unconscious form of imagination made up of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur during certain stages of sleep.

Truth be told, no matter how logical or intuitive you are, neither of these virtues, no matter how exceptional, will ever enable you to peer into the future and reasonably predict the twists and turns your life may take, nor the circumstances, fortunes, and friends that might someday be your own. It is, in fact, impossible.

That's what imagination is for.

Thoughts become things.

Nature's greatest artist

Nature is amazing when we take the time to look. This short video shows what some males have to do to attract a mate. Well worth the three minutes it takes to view this.

It doesn't matter what "they" do

Your net worth, net health, and net happiness all hinge exclusively upon your net thoughts, net words, and net deeds.

Though little can rob you as quickly as thinking that it matters what "they" do.

You've got the power 

Imagination vs Realilty

Talking about your child’s imagination helps in defining its place in reality. When you acknowledge their imagination, you are basically stimulating it and teaching them to value honesty by taking responsibility that will help them see the fine line between lying and imagination Asking questions such as: “Your story was amazing, When did that happen”, ”was it in the school, in the house or in your mind?”, “your imaginative story is awesome”..

It is important but not necessary for parents to encourage fantasy play in their children. If the child already has an imaginary friend, for instance, parents should follow their children's lead and offer encouragement if they are comfortable doing so. Similarly, with Santa, if a child seems excited by the idea, parents can encourage it. However, if parents choose not to introduce or encourage the belief in fictitious characters, they should look for other ways to encourage their children's imaginations, such as by playing dress-up or reading fiction.

If a child asks if the Tooth Fairy or Santa is real, parents might want to assess their child's level of doubt. If the doubts appear strong then the child might be ready and it is time for the truth. Ideally, the child will find out for him or herself, like a little scientist, so parents might ask, "Is there something you saw or heard that makes you think Santa isn't real?" and "What do you think?"

Fantasy play is correlated with other positive attributes. In preschool children, for example, those who have imaginary friends are more creative, have greater social understanding, and are better at taking the perspective of others, according to Marjorie Taylor, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon and author of the book "Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them."

Imaginary friends can also be used to help children cope with stress, Dr. Taylor says. "This is a strength of children, their ability to pretend," she says. "They can fix the problem with their imagination."

As parents and caregivers, we know the coveted place that role-playing and dress-up holds in the lives of our children, but in addition to being just plain fun, imaginative role-play is one of the most important play patterns for your children.

Who doesn't remember turning their bath towel into a makeshift cape and battling all manner of beasts and bad people from the safety of our bedrooms? We did not know that we were onto something and probably neither did our parents; we just knew that it was fun to pretend to be someone else.

Role-play helps teach children about cooperation and taking turns, and as a result it encourages confidence and socialization. Research also tells us that children who are encouraged in imaginative play prove to be more creative, have a richer vocabulary, are less impulsive and aggressive and often become leaders with their playmates.
Role-play is exactly the type of imaginative play that child development experts recognize as preparation for learning and preparation for the rest of their lives.

Role-play is at the core of childhood, where there is no limit to where we can go or who we can become. Putting together a dress-up box for your child is a worthwhile activity. Fill it with clothes for both genders and jazz it up a bit with a few more glamorous items: a feather boa, some costume jewelry or a crown.

You can encourage your children to play, make suggestions, or even join in, but it won't be long before they leave you in their pixie dust as their imaginations run wild, taking them on a magical journey of learning and fun.

Do you believe in Santa?

It is interesting to me how my grandson is developing as he approaches his third birthday, so I thought I would do some research on how a child's mind develops and share some of what I found. We can see how children’s minds develop in stages by looking at what they cannot do at different ages. Following the discoveries of psychologist Jean Piaget in the mid–twentieth century, development experts have recognized many ways in which children do not think like adults. For instance, preschoolers consistently believe that a tall glass can hold more than a shorter one, even if the shorter glass is significantly wider, and that there are more books and toys if they are spread all over the floor than if they are stacked away. Not until about school age do children realize that different people can have different knowledge of the world. And researchers are still debating when  children can clearly sort out the real world from what they vividly imagine. Experience plays a role in moving children to the next level of cognitive development, but it seems that the brain has to be ready for that step as well. Parents and teachers can hurry a young child along only so much.

In movement, memory, and other functions, therefore, you will see your child develop preliminary skills, refine them, and then build on them to achieve more advanced skills. Inside your child’s brain at this time, neurons are firing signals, selected synaptic connections are growing stronger, and myelin is coating the nerves to make them more efficient. What educators see is potential: the more your child uses his or her brain, the more it grows. How can you facilitate this process? You can enrich your child’s environment and encourage him or her to explore it (even if that results in a few mistakes).

Child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality. Children’s imaginary friends are part of a healthy childhood development, which helps them learn more about their environment and build the connections in their brain to practice independent, autonomous thinking, so they gradually develop decision-making skills and master self-discipline. Parents should encourage their children’s creative and imaginative processes rather than threatening them with punishments.

Dr. Woolley's group at the Children's Research Laboratory has conducted a series of studies involving Santa, the Tooth Fairy and a newly made-up character known as the "Candy Witch" in order to examine the age at which children are able to distinguish between real and fictional entities and how they process contexts and cues when dealing with them.

In one study involving 91 children, Dr. Woolley asked young kids if a number of people and characters, including Santa and the garbage man, were real. She found that 70% of 3-year-olds reported that Santa Claus was real, while 78% believed in the garbage man. By age 5, kids' certainty about the garbage man grew, and Santa believers peaked at 83%. It wasn't until age 7 that belief in Santa declined. By 9, only a third believed in Santa while nearly all reported the garbage man was real.

So, "if kids have the basic distinction between real and not real when they're 3, why do they believe in Santa until they're 8?" says Dr. Woolley.

The researchers found that while children as young as 3 understand the concept of what is real and what isn't, until they are about 7 kids can be easily misled by adults' persuasive words or by "evidence." They hold onto their beliefs about some fantastical characters—like Santa—longer than others, such as monsters or dragons. Most of the kids in the study were Christian, and the numbers of those who believed in Santa would likely be smaller if there were children of other religious backgrounds in the sample, says Dr. Woolley

Logically, from what young kids observe, it makes sense to think that Santa is real, says Dr. Woolley. And Santa and the trash collector share certain characteristics. Both are people whom kids have heard about but have likely never met before. There is proof for Santa's existence—the gifts that appear on Christmas morning—as well as for the garbage man's—he makes trash disappear—even though kids don't usually see them in action. A 5-year-old has the cognitive skills to put together the pieces of evidence, but because the pieces are misleading, he or she comes to the wrong conclusion. Younger children may not have the cognitive skills to put the pieces of evidence together, so may in fact be less likely to believe in Santa's existence. The realness of some other characters, such as Sesame Street's Elmo, can perplex kids because they know Elmo is a puppet, but does that make him real or not?

All children are wired and ready to learn during their progress through childhood; it is important for parents to acknowledge and understand when children are using their imagination.

For All you Pun Lovers

My thanks Doug for the following:

1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

10. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

11. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

12. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

13. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

14. A backward poet writes inverse.

15. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

16. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine .

17. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'

18. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'

19. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

20. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'

21. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

22. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

last thoughts on innovation for a while

It's a talent that everyone has, yet they think they don't. The power of innovation. If you've ever marvelled at somebody's creative prowess, guess what, you can create and innovate too. It just takes time. Everyone is born creative. The box of crayons in kindergarten were not limited to those who possessed potential; because the truth is, everybody has potential.

You know how long it took to learn to ride a bike or drive or to never commit the same mistake again? It's the same with innovation. It takes a bit of practice and a lot of time before this mind function comes easily when called.
Don't listen to what other people say. Follow the beat of your own drum. Allowing for the input of other people will only bring cacophony to the music you are trying to make. If you have an original idea, don't waste your time and effort trying to make people understand. They won't. And the help you will probably get comes in the form of negative feedback. If all those geniuses listened to their peers, we would probably still be living in the middle ages.

Spend time on it. I cannot stress that enough, although, please do not mistake this tip to tell you to quit your day job entirely. Do not. This involves some tricky time management but with a little discipline you'll be able to squeeze both in.

Exercise. Take a walk. Run a mile or two. Send all those endorphins coursing through your veins. Exercising certainly clears and relaxes your mind and allows for anything to pop up.

Record your dreams. Aren't some of them just the craziest things that your conscious mind would never have thought of? If you've had these dreams before, and I'm sure have, this only shows you the untapped innovative power you have lying within. So jot down those notes. Those dreams may just create an innovative spark in you.

Find your own style. You can always tell a Van Gogh from a Matisse. You'll know Hemingway wrote something by the choice of words on the paper. So it is the same with you. People will appreciate your innovation more because it is uniquely yours and that no one else would have thought of what you were thinking. That will let people see how valuable an asset you are.

Don't hide behind nifty gadgets or tools. You don't need the most expensive set of paints to produce a masterpiece. The same way with writing. You don't need some expensive fountain pen and really smooth paper for a bestseller. In fact, J.K. Rowling wrote the first book of the Harry Potter Series on bits of tissue. So what if you've got an expensive SLR camera if you're a crappy photographer? Who cares if you've got a blinging laptop if you can't write at all? The artist actually reduces the number of tools he has as he gets better at his craft: he knows what works and what doesn't.

Nothing will work without passion. What wakes you up in the mornings? What keeps the flame burning? What is the one thing that you'll die if you don't do? Sometimes people with talent are overtaken by the people who want it more. Think the hare and the tortoise. Ellen Degeneres once said that if you're not doing something that you want to do, then you don't really want to do it. And that's true. Sometimes you just want something so bad you become a virtual unstoppable. And that is passion. Passion will keep you going.

Don't worry about inspiration. You can't force it; inspiration hits when you least expect it to, for those unpredictable yet inevitable moments you should prepare. An idea could strike you on the subway, yet alas, you poor unfortunate soul; you have no sheet of paper to scribble down a thought that could change the world. Avoid these disasters. Have a pen and paper within your arm's reach at all times.

Keep in mind that you're doing these things for your own satisfaction and not anybody else's. But soon enough they will notice, and everything should snowball from there.