Imagination and Creativity

Imagination

Imagination is the conscious potential over the field of awareness, to imagine is to become aware of something not revealed by our immediate circumstances. I have used the phrase cosmic imagination to refer to the vast ocean of being engendered by the highest totality of the Soul; this is to view imagination from an abstract light as forms of awareness given to us by the ontological totality, it is a representation of the Soul's Will to form. This perspective on imagination however does not offer any new light on metaphysics, so rather I prefer to use the term 'imagination' from a psychological perspective in the context of our lives. This places imagination in a position relative to the field of consciousness centred around the microcosmic self, from this point onwards we can now refer to imagination strictly as awareness of the unseen physical realm.

It may seem that I have diminished the significance of the physical realm to be insignificant, but this is not the case: imagination plays a role of essential importance in conceiving to abstraction. In conceiving of numbers for example, we can see instances of a pair of objects but before the abstraction towards the number two can immediately take place we utilise our imagination to draw a greater perception upon the idea of 'pairs of objects'. From expanded perception is born the abstracted conception. Imagination is one of the most important faculties that we utilise on an everyday bases, in the intellectual pursuits towards abstract knowledge as I illustrated, but even more powerfully imagination is a very pure and clear pathway towards the Ideals.

In nature we find great examples of beauty, from the landscapes stretching onto the horizon, to the sun glazing our everyday surroundings to a wondrous new glow of perfection, we encounter many such opportunities of mesmerisation with and the appreciation of natures gifts. This is a source of inspiration, that provides the mind with a thread and the heart with a needle so to weave a new fabric that will radiate the colours of aesthetic wonder. With our imagination humans can build worlds filled with greater beauty and joy, expanded beyond the confines of our physical limitations that grasps the meaning of existence more clearly. These worlds, and the very act of their creation, is a striving towards the Ideals. Imagination does not provide us with worlds of being ontologically greater than our own, but it provides us with worlds that are freer and more expressive and so capture the heart of striving more firmly than our own. The extent of this underlying psychological intent in the works of human imagination should not be underestimated, for even the darkest and bleakest stories often contain a moral principle or greater meaning, an Ideal. Imagination paves the road to a higher state of understanding, an indulgence in this font of passion enlightens our lives with an awe and wonder of simply being alive, expanding our sphere of consciousness far beyond the confines of our ordinary circumstances.

Creativity

The desire to imagination, towards the joys we experience, is creativity. The Human Spirit is a creative passion, and I use this phrase in a way that would be far more powerful than saying the font of creativity is intrinsic to ourselves, it is not a dimension or essence of existence, it is existence. We have a permeating drive and need to give form and life, to create, as a reflection of the Spirit of knowing ourselves. It can then be said that we create in our own image, a phrase that speaks on every level of being from the physical representation of ourselves or our surroundings to the holy phrase 'God created man in His image' found in the many religions of this world. We know that our perceptions are no different from ourselves, but it may still be a difficult task to understand this as being an image of ourselves. The 'image' itself should not be confused with the physical representation in art for example, but rather the image is the meaning behind the work. The artist does not seek to capture the beauty of his eyes, but he seeks to express the beauty of his mind. In my livelihood and occupation I believe mathematicians to be a high form of artists, seeking to represent the abstract spaces of the imagination and intelligible faculties through a language balancing the play between formal logic and naive understanding.

Great Ideas

The creative spark is the active element which impregnates the passive field of imagination with a desire to self-expression found in the ideas and works of human civilisation. But what makes these great? In the countless ideas which are conjured and appear in the manifold of our lives, what distinguishes the trivial suggestion from the great idea that is to revolutionise the field of human understanding irrevocably? Great ideas are forged from the interplay of light and darkness, from the merging of the greatness of our spiritual essence and the humility of our meagre state, from the calling of Divine inspiration and the striving to self-expression, great ideas are birthed from the water found at the horizon of the two seas of our dual perspectives. It is when the drops of imagination are woven through the creative passion and poetic genius into a sea of beauty, that we experience the mesmerising wonder of God's touch to leave an immortalised imprint in our mortal minds, transforming dust into gold, the ordinary into the great. In this highest state of Selfhood we dedicate our lives to the service and duty towards knowledge, humanity, and most of all towards the Absolute.