We Imagine Because We are Living : Delights of the Ordinary No.45 (S2)
Wherever human beings are involved things are dynamic, they are capacious because we are emotional, imaginative beings.
Delights of the Ordinary is for us who are trapped in the world of hustle culture but are quiet at heart with an itching creative bone. This newsletter intersects culture, art and our practical 9-5 job space.
Even our smallest actions have potential for great change, positively or negatively, and the way in which we all conduct ourselves within the world means something.
- Nick Cave
The world was still rolling out of the blistering effects of two World Wars. Human lives shattered; dire suffering; and the economy somewhat crawling out of the ruins.
In this recuperating decade while in some countries “[p]eople resorted to barter, often using cigarettes as money”, Play-Doh arrived on the market shelves in the year nineteen-fifty-six.
A craft-making play material for kids.
Within two years of its launch, Play-Doh closely sold $3 million worth of coloured clay!
When you see businesses booming in their initial years of product launch, like Play-Doh, you may unimaginatively be seduced to conclude that such businesses must have had an exceptional business plan in place, with immaculate marketing strategies, A1 technology and a faultlessly loyal working brigade to make a business such a giant in no time!
A little peep into its history, essentially Play-Doh was not a company to make anything for kids. In the early nineteen hundreds, it made a cleaning product - a putty-like material which wiped off the coal soot from the wallpapers of the houses then. Post-World War II, with the invention of washable wallpaper and natural gas replacing coal fuel, this putty cleaner lost its usefulness and the cleaning company was about to stand right outside the hallway to file for bankruptcy.
Joe McVicker the owner of the company was a brother-in-law of a nursery teacher Kay Zufall who gave him the idea to use it as a playing material for kids to save itself. The new putty formulation found its way into the educational convention and in the year nineteen-fifty-seven chemist, Dr Tien Liu made better Play-Doh that could dry without losing its colour!
In those times of hard knocks who would have pictured that we and our children would play out our endless imaginations with Play-Doh?
The truth is: be it life or business, not many things are sure shot!
What remains sure is - an imaginative mind which is crucial for our survival. Be it business or life!
Because products become useless, the sales projections can go kaput, the profit graph can flatline, plans crash and doomsday tragedy like the recent pandemic can fall straight onto our heads to choke our lungs!
But such messed up times have taught us that humanity survives not by cover-to-cover planning but by its power to imagine. To reinvent in the variable times. “Without it, there would be no planning, no building, no culture; without an imagined picture of the future, our civilization would not exist.” said Canadian science journalist and writer Dan Falk.
What is Imagination?
Imagination is basically our power to mentally emulate situations and thoughts that are not sensed in our physical world. Imagination lays a foundational crux to creativity. We can see creativity laid out as plans or products but we cannot see imagination because it is happening inside of us.
There are two types of imagination important for creativity:
Social-Emotional: Social-emotional imagination is the capacity to envision and reflect on numerous social dynamics and their impact on our lives and life of others.
Temporal: Temporal imagination is the ability to engage in mental time travel, fictitious thinking, and mind-wandering.
So Why We Imagine?
Because it is that power which fosters creativity in us. Wherever human beings are involved things are dynamic, they are capacious because we are emotional, imaginative beings. Not mechanical and algorithmic. Neither are we a product of biochemical chance that happened out of nothing. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! And that wonderous imagination is engraved deep inside of us.
Yet we lose our imagination as we grow up. A study conducted by Play-Doh to examine the brain science around imagination found that “imagination is a “use it or lose it” muscle. Sixty-four percent of teens (age 13-17) agree that their loss of imagination progresses as they age, and 71% of parents feel that children are less imaginative than they used to be.”
Imagination in Our Work Culture
As much in our lives, also in our work culture, we have been reduced to toil in the routine trajectories of life; leaving almost no scope to see life in its full-blown imaginative kaleidoscopic colours. Paul Bennett, Co-CEO and Chief Creative Officer, IDEO, believes that imagination and creativity are leadership skills that can transform an organizational work culture. He talks about seeing a huge shift in the last 20 years in terms of imagination and reinvention. “Leaders who bring humility, curiosity and inquisitiveness to work, will also build those muscles within their teams to keep evolving.”
Reimagination could turn a useless wall-cleaning putty into a toy with no sharp edges, that could be pulped back to nothing to start all over again!
So, therefore, imagine without boundaries because there are no failures in imagination - we can start again! We give ourselves permission to experiment with wild absurd ideas and let our egos fall from our personalities. Then in business or life, we need creators and imaginators of life. Those who can see beyond the toughened lifeless structure of the world. Because, as we age we lose a lot of our existential imaginative ability while imprinting on us the world system which unfortunately is frozen and unbendable. Softened hearts and softened minds need the courage to stand up when all we know is to harden up quite soon, quite literally.
This not just reinventing our jobs, but when we permit ourselves such freedom, our children will imitate our moves. It is not merely about the work culture but it is about building a generation that has not forgotten to use its imaginative muscle when the turbulent times would lay abundant.
And if we still have trouble imagining and reinventing, maybe we should start… playing with Play-Doh again!
Now to some quick shares for the week.
To Quote:
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
C.S. Lewis
To End:
On My Porch by John Miller
I sit on my porch, eyes closed and ears open.
The sounds of a summer’s night begin to fill my thoughts; a hot breeze blows across my face.
The mocking birds begin their nightly chorus, followed by the chirping of crickets. A sparrow joins the melody, his sound most frequent.
I sit on my porch eyes closed and ears open.The soft flowing sound of traffic driving by drowns out my thoughts and put my mind at ease.
I can hear the rattling sounds of neighbor’s sprinklers watering their lawns and the startling call of a killdeer far away.
I don’t want to open my eyes but I know I must. I sit on my porch, eyes closed and ears open, and remember the wonderful sounds of summer that I have heard.
I will see you on the other side of the week, until then I hope you will capture many moments of imagination and wonderment whenever the world hands them to you.
- Anugrah
Delights of the Ordinary currently is a free publication. Yet it takes me many hours of effort to write and curate it. I may need lots of coffee to keep me going. You can :)
Who am I?
Hi, I am Anugrah. I write Delights of the Ordinary for us who are trapped in the world of hustle culture but are quiet at heart with an itching creative bone and love for life. My newsletter intersects culture, art, and inner health in our practical 9-5 job space. Feel free to share.
Stumbled on my publication? Explore all my previous editions here. And in case you don’t wish to spend time browsing then complement this post with The Antidote for Self-Doubt, To The Ordinary Woman or read about Decision Fatigue and Our Creative Life.
Much love
Imagination for living well... I am feeling inspired :) I like the Play doh story. Makes good sense to see how imagination can work wonders. Thank you 😊