The easiest way to illustrate the power of imagination is to ask,
how else can a person see possibilities that don't already exist in his
life or in larger society?
And unfortunately, most people try to find those possibilities by
consulting what others have suggested---never thinking that they
themselves could imagine them on their own.
There is a threshold beyond which the attachment to others' suggestions
turns into membership in a desolate second-hand club. A person joins
his future to slogans, vague juvenile sentiments, rebellion devoid of
substance, and conformity to some addled cause. After that, he takes
his only sustenance from being part of a group.
Imagination, on the other hand, never asks for consent. It doesn't feel
a need to belong. It doesn't try to mimic what is popular in order to
gain appreciation or acceptance.
Having tasted a bit of this independence, a person is likely to wonder
when the rewards will start piling up. But imagination doesn't operate
on the basis of instant gratification.
Society may go around and around in order to emphasize the ways in which
we are all similar, but imagination points up the ways in which we are
all different.
That is its strength.
It keeps referring back to its source:
the individual.
Underneath all the other revolutions, there is the revolution of the
individual imagining vast possibilities---and deciding which to pursue.
If that is eliminated from the equation, all boats eventually sink.
There is nothing to support them and make them move, except reflex
actions, which over time lose strength, because they are for The Machine
and against life.
Many, many people seek to find a way around this dilemma. They opt for a
little bit of imagination, and an overwhelming amount of repetitive
action---as if they might gain a gold star on the blackboard for their
ingenuity. But the gold star never comes. Instead, such people wear
out. They become bored. They feel despondent.
When you back up and look at this---what a strange situation. An
individual, inherently endowed with unlimited imagination which inspires
and elevates; and yet he is mired in a sea of fatigue.
And this is considered "normal."
"Norma," Latin, meaning "carpenter's square." Right angles. The usual kind of measurement.
Imagination moves into any kind of angle, or no angle at all.
Imagination isn't waiting for "usual" confirmation.
It's hard to realize the degree of conformity societies impose.
Everywhere you look it seems that standards are firmly in place. Many
of these standards have been in place for centuries. They are now
considered Reality, as if no alternatives exist or have ever existed.
And these days, we are told that a widespread awakening is taking
place---mainly because of the Internet. Yes, I believe that's true. At
the same time, though, many people, able for the first time to see
through the lies and corruptions of various elites, including the media,
are digging themselves into a deeper hole, because they are incapable
of seeing beyond "the rigged game." They think everything is rigged,
which amounts to saying freedom doesn't exist. They find nothing within
themselves that reflects back a sense of power. They find only
futility and cynicism. They try to feast on this bitter meal, and of
course they gain no sustenance.
This is an example of prior conditioning, a deeper
conditioning---ultimately self-imposed---by which the consciousness of
imagination and its power has been stripped away.
This is what needs to be reversed. This is what needs to be rejuvenated.
This is the key.
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