Ah, to be a child.
I was watching my six year old “teach her class” the other day, and had a chance to ask myself what happened to my imagination.
So when she invited me to a tea party, how could I say no?
Of course, I had been to tea parties before, but honestly, I sat there waiting for the final check. But not this time. Nope this time, I was an British man from high society, in London for just a short while, who happened to stop by an old friend for tea.
It was a totally different experience.
But I realized, that I never used my imagination anymore, while, I vividly remember being a secret spy as a child, with my briefcase holding a disassembled gun, ready to fight for, well, whatever it was I was fighting for back then.
So I wondered, what happened to my imagination in the past thirty years?
For one, I think we are told somewhere along the way, that imaginary play is for kids, and who wants to be a kid? So we give up our imaginary friends, our imaginary worlds, and focus solely on reality.
Reading some books on Jung, I came across a practice called Active Imagination, which I would like to share with you, since I have found it to be like the version of how I figure things out, but allows for another vehicle to get to the same place, but I think in a much more efficient way.
Basically, it involved engaging your unconscious, by means of using your imagination, and conversing with yourself.
In brief, you approach your unconscious, using your inner eye (which just means inner focus – it is the focus you get when you are “behind” your conscious mind – see yesterdays post), and you call out for someone to meet you. And someone will. Then you (your conscious mind) can dialog with your unconscious mind, ask it questions, and get answers.
However, the upshot of all of this is that imagination is the key to your unconscious, and leveraging it allows you to uncover those things you hold true, but that are locked away from your thought due to the fact that they are unconscious. So exercise your imagination and see where it takes you.
P.S. The book I read which really explained Active Imagination well is “Inner Work” by Robert Johnson.