Imagination Is Not Day-Dreaming
કલ્પના એ દિવાસ્વપ્ન નથી
ફીબી ટિકેલ દ્વારા
કલ્પના એ એક અદ્ભુત શક્તિ છે. સમાજમાં થયેલ દરેક પરિવર્તન કોઈના મનની કલ્પનામાંથી — અથવા નાના સમૂહની સામૂહિક કલ્પનામાંથી — જન્મી હોય છે, જેમકે સ્ત્રીઓને મળેલ મતાધિકાર, નાગરિક હક્કની ચળવળ, અથવા આરોગ્ય સેવાઓમાં સુધારો. કેટલાક કહે છે કે આ એ ગુણ છે જે આપણને સૌથી વિશિષ્ટ રીતે માનવી બનાવે છે — ખાસ કરીને નવીનતા માટે સામૂહિક રીતે કલ્પના કરવાની આપણી ક્ષમતા.
તેમ છતાં કલ્પનાને ખરું મહત્ત્વ આપવામાં આવતું નથી — પણ ખરેખર કલ્પના તો ક્રાંતિકારી નવીનતાનું મુખ્ય તત્વ છે જે નવી દુનિયાનું નિર્માણ કરે છે. ઘણી વાર તેને દિવાસ્વપ્ન, કાલ્પનિકતા અને કલ્પનાચિત્ર સાથે જોડીને નકામી ગણવામાં આવે છે. જો કોઈ નોકરીનો ઉમેદવાર તેના અરજીપત્ર (CV) પર "કલ્પનાશીલતા" લખે, તો ચોક્કસ લોકોના ભવાં ચડી જશે. શાળાના દિવસોથી જ આપણને દિવાસ્વપ્નમાં ગુમ થવા બદલ ઠપકો મળે છે, જે શરૂઆતથી જ આને નકામી કે ભોગ-વિલાસી ગણવાનો સંદેશ આપે છે. જો આવુ જ આખી જિંદગી ચાલુ રહે, તથા આપણી સંસ્થાકીય અને સામાજિક વ્યવસ્થાઓ સતત કલ્પનાને દબાવતી રહે અને તેને ખરૂ મહત્વ ન આપે, તો શું થાય?
આર્થિક મુશ્કેલીના સમયમાં કલ્પનાને પ્રાથમિકતાઓની યાદીમાં સૌથી નીચે મૂકવી સ્વાભાવિક છે. જ્યારે અછત અને અતિ મુશ્કેલ પડકારોનો સામનો કરવો પડે છે, ત્યારે લોકો કાર્યક્ષમતા, વ્યવહારુ પરિણામો અને કામ પૂરું કરવા પર ધ્યાન કેન્દ્રિત કરે છે. કલ્પનાને વિચલિત કરનારી, અસ્પષ્ટ અને કદાચ બે ઘડી ની મજા માટે યોગ્ય ગણવામાં આવે છે, પરંતુ નવી નીતિઓ અને વ્યવસ્થાઓના નિર્માણ માટે તેને મૂળભૂત નથી માનવામાં આવતી.
વિચારો કે જો આપણે ખોટા નિર્ણયો લીધા હોય તો ! આ અઠવાડિયે યુ.કે. માં તાપમાન રેકોર્ડ સ્તરે નોંધાયુ છે, તેનાથી લોકોમાં એવી લાગણી વધી રહી છે કે આપણે રસ્તો ભૂલી ગયા છીએ. બાબતો ખોટી દિશામાં ગઈ છે — અને આપણે તેને સુધારવાની જરૂર છે. પરંતુ જ્યારે નીતિઓ, જવાબદારી, દૂરંદેશીતા અને કાર્યવાહી ગૂંચવાઈને અટકી ગઈ હોય ત્યારે આપણે તે કેવી રીતે કરીશું? આવી મૂળિયાં નાખી ગયેલી સમસ્યાઓનો ઉકેલ કેવી રીતે લાવી શકીએ — જો આપણે એ જ જૂની પધ્ધતિઓ વાપરીશું તો આપણને એ જ જૂના પરિણામો જ મળશે, જે હંમેશા મળતા આવ્યા છે.
આપણી સામેના પડકારો અત્યંત જટિલ છે અને કોઈ એક વ્યક્તિ કે એક ઉકેલથી ઉકેલી શકાય તેવા હોતા નથી. જેમ મધમાખી મધપૂડો બનાવવા માટે ઘણા સ્થળોની શોધ કરે છે અને યોગ્ય જગ્યા મળે ત્યાં સુધી ફરતી રહે છે, તેવી રીતે જ આપણા મન ને પણ આગળનો માર્ગ પસંદ કરતા પહેલા વિવિધ શક્યતાઓની શોધમાં ભટકવાની અને શક્યતાઓને સમજવાની જરૂર હોય છે. આપણી કલ્પનાશક્તિ આ અલગ અલગ શક્યતાઓની માનસિક તસવીરો દોરવામાં અને તેમને કાલ્પનિક રીતે (સિમ્યુલેશનથી) પરખવામાં ખૂબ જ ઉપયોગી થઈ શકે છે.
મનન માટેના બીજ પ્રશ્નો:
● આ વિચાર સાથે તમે કેટલા સહમત છો કે કલ્પનાને ઘણી વાર દિવાસ્વપ્ન કે કાલ્પનિકતા તરીકે નકારી કાઢવામાં આવે છે, પરંતુ તે ખરેખર ક્રાંતિકારી નવીનતાનું "મૂળભૂત તત્વ" છે જે નવી દુનિયા ઘડે છે?
● શું તમે કોઈ એવો વ્યક્તિગત અનુભવ વર્ણવી શકો છો જ્યારે તમે કોઈ મુશ્કેલ પરિસ્થિતિમાં કલ્પનાનો ઉપયોગ કરી અન-અપેક્ષિત કે નવીન ઉકેલ પર પહોંચ્યા હોય ?
● મધમાખી જેમ મધપૂડા માટે યોગ્ય જગ્યા શોધે તેમ, જટિલ સમસ્યાઓના નવીન ઉકેલો માટે, તમારા મનને ભટકવા દેવાની અને વિવિધ શક્યતાઓ શોધવાની ટેવ વિકસાવવામાં તમને શું મદદરૂપ થાય છે?
Phoebe Tickell is a scientist, complexity thinker, and social entrepreneur. Excerpt above from here.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that imagination, often dismissed as daydreaming or fantasy, is actually the "star stuff" of truly radical innovation that builds a new world into being? Can you share a personal story that involved using your imagination to navigate a particularly challenging situation, leading to an unexpected or innovative solution? What helps you cultivate a habit of allowing your mind to wander and explore different possibilities, much like a bee searching for the perfect location for its hive, in order to unlock creative solutions to complex problems?
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13 Past Reflections
On Jul 24, 2025 Mala Tandan wrote :
As I trained to be a teacher I had always felt that this method of 'chalk and talk' was flawed from the start. I always imagined a class which was lively, where children learned from each other through interaction....and nearly 10 years later I got the chance to develop a workshop on Communication Skills for the students of Class IX. Lo and behold!! Out popped all the ideas that had been deep in the subconscious....what emerged as activities in the class was a marriage of pedagogy and the imagined classroom ripe with activities and laughter!! We called the workshops 'Silverline' ...a place where we fostered imagination in order to build communication.
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On Jul 19, 2025 Debbie Podwika wrote :
Well, this is true.Do not forget that imagination can be used for cruelty as well.
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On Jul 14, 2025 Laurel Trautwein wrote :
The mind wants to wander freely without constraint but it needs time and space to remember how to do so.
"You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
And a poem I wrote to help me to remember how to get there, to the place of imagination and creative incubation.
Invitation
I just received a postcard
From my right brain yesterday
She said I need to visit
Pack a bag and come to stay
I told her I will need to think
She suggested I could feel
I replied I'll check my calend... [View Full Comment]
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On Jul 10, 2025 Ruchira Modi wrote :
Imagine that imagination was a bird, spreading its wings high and wide, going side to side with winds, up and down the rainbow, through nooks and crannies of mountains, through rivers that flow relentlessly.
Suddenly while being in its rainbow world, it hit the ground reality. That perceived reality was built on expectations to prove itself; to make its own individuality to shine out. But imagination-the bird-said, how can I prove myself? I am an imagination; how do I turn myself into a reality? I can't fly anymore.
The reality said -when you believe you are real and you can be real; you will turn into me - the reality!
Suddenly while being in its rainbow world, it hit the ground reality. That perceived reality was built on expectations to prove itself; to make its own individuality to shine out. But imagination-the bird-said, how can I prove myself? I am an imagination; how do I turn myself into a reality? I can't fly anymore.
The reality said -when you believe you are real and you can be real; you will turn into me - the reality!
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On Jul 10, 2025 Ruchira Modi wrote :
We just have to believe in our imagination even when we don't see it for real in the beginning.
Imagine that imagination was a bird, spreading its wings high and wide, going side to side with winds, up and down the rainbow, through nooks and crannies of mountains, through rivers that flow relentlessly.
Suddenly while being in its rainbow world, it hit the ground reality. That perceived reality was built on expectations to prove itself; to make its own individuality to shine out. But imagination-the bird-said, how can I prove myself? I am an imagination; how do I turn myself into a reality? I can't fly anymore.
The reality said -when you believe you are real and you can be real; you will turn into me - the reality!
Imagine that imagination was a bird, spreading its wings high and wide, going side to side with winds, up and down the rainbow, through nooks and crannies of mountains, through rivers that flow relentlessly.
Suddenly while being in its rainbow world, it hit the ground reality. That perceived reality was built on expectations to prove itself; to make its own individuality to shine out. But imagination-the bird-said, how can I prove myself? I am an imagination; how do I turn myself into a reality? I can't fly anymore.
The reality said -when you believe you are real and you can be real; you will turn into me - the reality!
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On Jul 10, 2025 A wrote :
I am fortunate to need my imagination for helping seniors to have a pleasant day no matter the impairment they are dealing with. I literally couldn't do my job otherwise.
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On Jul 8, 2025 Jim Glaser wrote :
i have a short story of an experience in
which imagination was incredibly helpful
it is called "The Stray" and i can upload it to your email-/-
which imagination was incredibly helpful
it is called "The Stray" and i can upload it to your email-/-
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On Jul 8, 2025 nocermathew wrote :
Yes I it is correct someones imagination and hard work with Action Made changes in lifefor happiness
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On Jul 8, 2025 Yvonne wrote :
“ It’s natural that in a period of austerity, imagination falls to the bottom of priorities”. I disagree with this comment. It is during challenging times including periods of austerity, that imagination (creativity is a form of imagination) kicks in. The ‘what if’.
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On Jul 8, 2025 Marjorie Herman, Certified Wellness Counselor wrote :
Yes! Mine is a long-term personal inquiry involving healing of chronic illness by an examination of one’s current belief system. What follows is the whole body’s forging of a resonant, creative reality. Healing is born when the BODY can embrace the new vision.
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On Jul 7, 2025 Annie wrote :
We need to give equal if not more weight to the arts in education - playful imagination is what enabled Einstein’s discoveries. Whilst the love of poetry painting dance music are all placed at the back of the curriculum queue whilst tech and STEM pushes in front - we all suffer. As imaginal beings the width of the mind is proportionate to its depth. It’s time to stop drilling down into vocational specialties and time to flap our wings and reach out into the imagination of sky eternity and all possibility for the survival of all life. It’s not a case of serious vocational study verses therapeutic indulgence - our wholeness needs to be fully embraced now before it’s too late for future generations to be able to think for themselves as fully realised human beings
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On Jul 6, 2025 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
Yes. Imagination is a great mental power. Imagination is the birthplace of innovations of thoughs, ideas and accomplishments. Great poems, art works, music and dance and space ships are created by imagination. Daydreaming and fantasy have cathartic values. Suppressed and repressed desires are released by daydreaming, and fantasy. Innovations open inner doors for creativity. How we use our imgination as power is very important. Imagination is like a double edged sword. It depends on for what purpose we use it, for protection or destruction.
When I was teaching in a community college in Chicago, I was a member of an interdisciplinary team for creating an innovative program Quest for Identity. An interdiciplinary team of professors from deparments of Psychology, Philosophy, Education and Art was created to create this innovative experential learning program. We invited a few students to be an integral part of this program. We gathered together for four weekends for creating this ... [View Full Comment]
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On Jul 4, 2025 David Doane wrote :
I see imagination as critical in innovation and creativity. I also see daydreaming and fantasy as including imagination, and I value them as critical in innovation. Imagination, daydreaming, and fantasy take us further than reason. I recently daydreamed/imagined having a talk with someone I respected who told me to trust myself and do a particular project my way, which I had been doubting, which gave me the extra encouragement I needed to trust me and do it my way. What helps me cultivate a habit of allowing my mind to wander and explore possibilities is having experienced it to work and believing it does work. I believe imagination, daydreaming, and fantasy come from a deeper and broader aspect of me than my reason and logic, thus opening me to new options. Einstein said, "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere," and I believe that.