NICK WRIGHT
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Imagine

14/6/2020

22 Comments

 
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‘My life has been filled with terrible misfortunes; most of which never happened.’ (Michel de Montaigne)

Imagination can be a rich blessing and a painful curse. On the one hand, it can enable the most amazing creativity and innovation; on the other, it can cause the most terrible suffering and pain. Learning to handle and harness the power of the imagination can be a very valuable skill. Yet it can feel like trying to tame a wild horse. We sense and feel its power and potential but can never quite control it. Sometimes it can inspire or entertain us; at other times, it can terrify or overwhelm us.

I remember an advert for an organisation that supports people with a frightening, degenerative, physical disease. It said quite simply, yet so poignantly, ‘It’s what goes through your mind that’s the worst’. I remember, too, a colleague who comments that, ‘The past exists only in memory; the future exists only in imagination.’ Imagination creates the possibility to experience as-if reality, now. So, if that means experiencing our happiest dreams – good; if our worst nightmares – not good.

An opportunity and a challenge is that the brain doesn’t distinguish sharply between actual reality and as-if reality. This means that, if we imagine something vividly enough, it can be as if, mentally, emotionally and physically, we go through that experience for real. That's great for fields like, say, Appreciative Inquiry that capitalise on positive imagination to create a better and brighter future; not great for professionals who experience, say, vicarious trauma or secondary traumatic stress.

How do you draw on the immense power of imagination to achieve positive change? How do you avoid or address its potentially damaging effects?
22 Comments
Stella Goddard BA (Hons) Registered MBACP (Accred)
14/6/2020 08:15:11 pm

Thank you for sharing this Nick. My initial thoughts are that if we are 'imagining' the worst that may well be triggered by our back brain in fight, flight, freeze mode.

On the other hand when we are calm and our front brain is back online we are better able to think clearly and 'imagine' a way through our difficulties.

Reply
Nick Wright
14/6/2020 08:19:49 pm

Thanks Stella. Yes, that could well be the case. I also imagine (I had to get that in somewhere!) that, if we are imagining worst case scenarios, that itself may trigger a fight-flight-freeze response. A catch-22.

I like your use of 'imagine' as a way to think through difficulties. I think that's where the power of imagination can be such a gift, if we are able to harness it positively and not allow its potential flipsides to derail us.

Reply
Stella Goddard BA (Hons) Registered MBACP (Accred)
14/6/2020 08:32:26 pm

Well l imagine (see l can do it too 🙂) that what we imagine depends on our life histories and the environment we are in. What we believe leads to what we think what we think leads to how we feel and how we feel to our response.

I am a big believer in self compassion and being kind to ourselves. When we are afraid we feel powerless. It may take another human being to come alongside us to help us gently find the way forward.

Nick Wright
14/6/2020 08:44:42 pm

Thank you, Stella. You made me smile. I agree that we imagine (and, at times, find ourselves able to imagine) is very much influenced by background experience and context.

I remember once asking a woman from Myanmar what her hopes for the future were. She looked at me blankly and, after a moment, said she couldn't imagine a future. She had simply learned to survive, head down, one day at a time.

I think it's true that beliefs influence thoughts which influence how we feel which influence how we respond. That's certainly consistent with cognitive-behavioural theory. I think each of those dimensions impacts on and, potentially, reinforces all of the others; not necessarily in a linear fashion.

Yes, when we feel afraid, we can feel powerless. It can also limit what we're able, in that moment, to imagine as possibilities for change. Sometimes a compassionate 'other' can help us feel safe enough to begin to think well again.

Stella Goddard BA (Hons) Registered MBACP (Accred)
14/6/2020 11:28:28 pm

I find myself so moved by the woman in Myanmar. In survival mode we're using all our energy (which is very likely depleted) to get from one moment to the next.

You're right about beliefs etc. Not linear and sometimes difficult to untangle.

Nick Wright
14/6/2020 11:29:44 pm

Hi Stella. Indeed - and well said.

Ian Henderson
15/6/2020 10:29:47 am

Two quotes spring to mind....neither of which I can claim the IPR to......"The mind is a place all of its own. It can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell" and "Nothing is good or bad. Only our thinking makes it so". Oh, how I wish I'd thought of those!!!!!!

Reply
Nick Wright
15/6/2020 10:48:48 am

Hi Ian and thank you for sharing such great and pertinent quotations.

The first particularly resonates for me - I have seen and experienced it so many times! It reminds me of insights in Gestalt, especially in terms of what we notice (and don't) and what meaning we attribute to it.

I was thinking this morning about times I have seen you work so well with the power of imagination in training workshops, and it got me thinking about how to use, say, imagining 'worst case scenarios' positively - e.g. in strategic planning or risk management.

Reply
Ian Henderson
15/6/2020 12:30:36 pm

That's an interesting area Nick. I sometimes get accused of being negative when what I am trying to do is to mitigate worst case scenarios!

Nick Wright
15/6/2020 12:33:16 pm

Hi Ian. That response may well reflect a phenomenon I wrote about very recently: http://www.nick-wright.com/blog/wishful-thinking. We sometimes believe what we want to believe and can react defensively if someone risks messing that up for us.

Jane Holliday
15/6/2020 12:25:37 pm

I found this quote recently that seems very apt for this blog. The heaviest burdens that we carry are the thoughts in our head. So very true.

Reply
Nick Wright
15/6/2020 12:39:40 pm

Hi Jane. Yes, indeed. I was struck this weekend by how the action of one person, caught on camera and in story, captures and inspires the imagination and holds the potential to re-frame everything in the midst of an increasingly-polarised and heated debate:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/black-man-rescues-white-man-london-protests-patrick-hutchinson-a4468876.html

Reply
Henry Shaw
15/6/2020 07:44:41 pm

Imagination can take us away from everyday life, give us beautiful thoughts and feelings and inspire us. We can imagine a situation from different aspects and try to change it accordingly. If we think through a situation again and again, it can also be exhausting and we cannot let go. But maybe our soul needs this kind of processing to get peace or closure.

Reply
Nick Wright
15/6/2020 09:03:37 pm

Hi Henry. I think you expressed that beautifully. I sometimes think of the impact of imagination on, say, two people watching the same film. Each experiences the same film differently, influenced partly by lived experience and partly by what the film triggers in their own distinctive imagination.

On 'think through a situation again and again', that reminded me of the cognitive-behavioural phenomenon of 'rumination' - a stuck pattern of going over and over the same things in our mind without finding resolution or moving forward. It can be exhausting and debilitating and sometimes needs coaching or therapeutic support to break it.

Having said that, I also agree that sometimes we may find ourselves revisiting an issue or experience - consciously and/or subconsciously - as a way of processing that experience. It's a bit like a virtuous circle that appears to go round and round and yet gradually moves us forward towards peace or closure.

Reply
Tara Parker link
15/6/2020 10:40:50 pm

Nick,

I really rather enjoy reading this. I have only heard from two other people to clearly state that the brain doesn't know face from fiction - only what you tell it. I am a big believer in this though it can be trying. Believing in something that has yet to happen can have incredible influence over our personal potential and skills. Some wise words that have carried me through: "What you think about you bring about."

Thank you for sharing, Nick. Great post with great timing.

Tara

Reply
Nick Wright
16/6/2020 08:53:49 am

Thank you, Tara. I first heard that the brain doesn't distinguish between fact and fiction (at least in the sense and situations referred to this blog) from a Human Givens therapist: https://www.hgi.org.uk/

'Believing in something that has yet to happen' reminds me of the biblical notions of hope: a picture of the future, a relationship, that is so compelling that it draws us forward, as-if irresistibly, towards it.

Reply
Andrea Dasilva, M Ed., RCC
16/6/2020 08:55:31 am

Vulnerable enough to imagine...

Reply
Nick Wright
16/6/2020 08:55:56 am

Hi Andrea. I'm intrigued. Can you say more..?

Reply
Andrea Dasilva, M Ed., RCC
16/6/2020 09:37:52 pm

In her awesome TEDtalks on the power of vulnerability (and in her books on the topic), Brene Brown makes known that vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity/ingenuity rather than the weakness it is often considered.

Your discussion of imagination and handling/harnessing its' value/power brought this to my mind. Ya, it is damn scary to share what one's mind can concoct - especially if it is an innovative or new trend; it is also daring greatly - being bold.

Nick Wright
16/6/2020 09:40:21 pm

Hi Andrea. Yes, I remember that TED Talk by Brené Brown. I like your links between vulnerability, imagination, innovation and daring.

Geoff Williams
16/6/2020 08:57:20 am

Thoughtful reflection on imagination 👍👍😎

Reply
Nick Wright
16/6/2020 12:50:17 pm

Thank you, Geoff. 😃

Reply



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    ​Nick Wright

    ​I'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? ​Get in touch!

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