It’s that time again, when we write about a theme chosen by one of the international bloggers coming together for this monthly challenge, Tell Us about It. And, Oh. My. Word. IMAGINATION, that was another very hard (as in hard for me) topic as my first thought was, do I have any imagination?
You’ll see that Gail of Is This Mutton wonders whether we have less imagination as we get older. I rather think she’s got it in one, although do stop me right there if you think different. But I’m 77 now and there are some hard realities that one has to accept as we age, and imagining stuff? I don’t that much now. But I don’t know, maybe I was always not a very imaginative person, I mean I remember that for years, decades even, I worked on who I was and I’ve reinvented myself several times! But I don’t think I was a very imaginative person from the get go. Because I’m a pragmatist and an empiricist. Pragmatic, in that I’m a realist and exceedingly practical, seeking solutions all the time for any problem I see and come up against. And as for being an empiricist, by that I mean I seek out knowledge and any information I can grasp on the problems and challenges that face me personally and indeed face us all. Someone says something, could be anyone, politician, priest, journalist, blogger, friend, political pundit, neighbour, family and I think what is your source, how did you get your information? How can this be verified. What do you really know, what do I know? Yes, questions, questions, I do question things – a lot.
Mind you, questioning and aiming to solve something doesn’t always work. I remember, trying to solve my mother’s problems as she aged and faded away, and the hardest lesson I learnt was that I could not solve her problems. No matter, how hard I tried I could not change her ageing and the years she’d lived, nor could I solve and change her grief at the loss of my father. Yes, that was very hard.
But back to imagination, do I have this thing called imagination, can I imagine things? Ah, imagine! Yes, perhaps, yes! What about John Lennon and his song, Imagine? And those lyrics. I mean it’s a lovely song, nice tune and all that, but have you read the lyrics? As in really dived deep into them. Let’s try. Here they are.
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
Oh yes, wow, that is exactly how I feel about the world, life and the universe. The first verse, yes, that’s me. The second, I feel passionately that nationalism is so dangerous, just imagine, nothing to kill or die for. Imagine that! All the people living life in peace? And possessions, yes that’s hard but think about our consumption and how it is killing this world.
So yes, I am a dreamer, I do have imagination because…..I can imagine.
Well, that was a short piece, and I feel rather sad after writing this as I can’t see any of this happening, but the Lennon’s lyrics and my thoughts on the song do sum up how I feel.
And now it is the turn of the lovely women who collaborate on this challenge.
Let’s start with Suzy Turner who dreamed up this month’s theme. Curious about what’s cooking in Suzy’s imaginative mind? Her latest blog post, Imagination, spills the beans on her lifelong love affair with books and the wild scenarios she dreams up – from sharks in puddles to kites morphing into dragons. Get ready for a fun-filled journey through Suzy’s creative world where even everyday objects become magical with a little help from tools like Leonardo AI!
Oh wow, Suzy, just wow! Click here to get to this post.
Then why not look at Mary Katherine’s post where she says that this month’s topic of Imagination has her thinking of 2 summer creatures that inspired her imagination from childhood to now! Check out her post here to see what they are!
The lovely Leslie who writes the onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com blog says she is having to really use her imagination to talk about August’s Tell Us About theme…Imagination! Click here for this post.
Debbie who’s blog is Debs World says she has a vivid imagination which can work for and against her at times. In this post she looks at the role of imagination in everyday life and how we can nurture our imagination to enhance our lives. Click here for this post.
Marsha who blogs at Marsha in the Middle says that when Suzy chose “Imagination” as our August theme, she thought she’d go in one direction, and then she took a completely different road! Come along and click here as she searches for her imagination!
And finally Sue asks the question have you ever wondered what makes some people more successful, happier, and fulfilled than others? What is the secret ingredient that allows them to achieve their goals, overcome their challenges, and live their dreams? Sue, from Women Living Well After 50 finds answers to these questions and discovers that Imagination is a key to living well after 50. Click here to read this post.
That really is all for now, but tell me if you are still imaginative. And do, if you have time, take a peep at the other lovely bloggers above.
With love, Penny, the Frugalfashionshopper
P.S. And look out for another blog (maybe tomorrow) about some very recent charity shop, quite dressy, finds!
I totally disagree that we are less imaginative as we age. Think of all those great artists that managed to live into old age: Picasso, Matisse, Hockney ; Gwen John, Paula Rego,Georgia OKeeffe- to name but a few; all prolific and coming up with new ideas well into their old age. Since I retired four years ago aged 65 I have returned to creative hobbies and now write poetry and make visual art that I would never have imagined when work dominated my thinking. I definitely spend more time imagining than I ever did!
Apologies, Melanie, as I don’t usually like to generalise about older people and what did I do….!!
I totally agree with you that retirement releases one from the bonds of work. It really is the time of your life. I was exactly 60 when I retired and I just let rip with everything I couldn’t do when I worked. I took courses galore, I built a website from scratch, I edited my dad’s memoir, published it and learnt so much about my father from his writing. Then with my other half we ran a film society and I was steeped in the world of film, still am to a certain extent, but then we really knew all about the indie films that were being released and liaised with so many people on the local level who also ran film societies. It was such an inventive, imaginative time of my life, but 17 years on I have come face to face with some limitations. It’s been hard and imagination takes a backward step. That’s why I found the theme so challenging. But Lennon’s lyrics are really beautiful and we can all imagine ……
This writing challenge, and people’s responses to it, is so very stimulating and thought-provoking. Thank you Melanie, what a great comment 🙂
Great minds Penny, I also looked at the lyrics of Imagine but decided to leave it and I’m glad I did because you’ve done a much better job of discussing it than I could ever have done! Your post was really interesting and I so enjoy seeing how everyone treats the prompts.
I loved your post, Debbie and I agree, it is so interesting to read other people’s interpretations of each month’s theme. Thanks so much for your kind words about my post as I found this month’s quite challenging! Those lyrics…. Actually I’ve just read that Lennon owed much of them to Yoko and that has now been acknowledged.
Thanks again Debbie 🙂
(Btw, the WordPress password saga continues)
I love how you settled on that wonderful John Lennon song for this prompt. I hadn’t even thought about music as inspiring my imagination! Fabulous!
Hugs
Suzy xx
Yes, I found the subject quite the challenge – but I got there in the end!!! Thanks Suzy and wow, your contribution is amazing! So many books! I have commented on your blog but wonder if it will get through as WordPress often doesn’t like me commenting and throws my comments out. Hope it got to you.
Thank you so much for those kind words Suzy. Hugs to you too 🙂
Great job, Penny – I struggled more over this than any of our prompts so far! I love the way you do links to our posts, too.
Oh wow, good to know I wasn’t the only one! Kind of relieved at that, as I really struggled!
Thanks so much MaryK 🙂
Penny, this topic is intriguing. In the past, people have told me that I have a vivid imagination, but sometimes it can lead me to overthink things. I try to keep it under control, though.
When it comes to design, I believe my imagination is reasonably good, but I struggle with putting my ideas into action. Regarding your recent blog posts, I’ve never imagined going on a cruise, but I won’t rule it out completely!
I’ll be interested in reading the other blogger’s perspectives on imagination. June x
It’s interesting as this blog writing challenge does challenge one!! It’s so interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on the theme as well.
Re: cruising I would never ever have gone on a cruise when I was younger but now, especially with Saga, I mean, being picked up from your door! I can’t think of a better way to go on holiday! The health insurance being included also helps a lot!
Thanks June 🙂
I don’t think I ever had much imagination!! I can remember at school, struggling with essays when my mind was a blank!
Later in life I was a teacher of English to foreign students and sometimes borrowed John Lennon’s song Imagine to use in my classes. We would listen to the song, each student would have a copy of the lyrics with a few words blanked out and they would have to write in the missing words, either correctly or guessed. Then we would talk about it and imagine just how wonderful that world would be.
Oh yes, I too remember struggling with those essays!
The lyrics of Imagine are so beautiful. Apparently Lennon got inspiration for the lyrics from Yoko Ono and this has been acknowledged now.
It’s lovely to think of your students being taught that way – what a good teacher you were 🙂
It’s been a bit of a gloomy day here in New York so a good day to explore some other blogs. A couple I had read before but a few were new to me. I do remember that as a child I was rather imaginative. After every holiday dinner my brother and I would put on a play for the assembled family, we wrote the script as it were and came up with the costumes, played the parts. Often the assembled audience fell asleep, but that never deterred us. My imagination did get me into trouble in school. When we were reading in class I was usually ahead and then would stop to daydream, so when called on never was ready. My parents were called in on occasion to discuss this. During my working and being a mother years my imagination had to go on hold a bit, but hopefully it is still there. A few years back I began to write poetry and even got brave enough to present my my writings in public. The local library held these open mic nights for spoken word and I can’t believe I got the nerve to speak. Just when I began to enjoy this covid happened, the evenings had to be cancelled of course and even the restaurant where it was held eventually closed. This seems to have put a damper on my poetic imagination, perhaps the isolation and worry of these years is responsible, but we will see.
Sometimes I think my imagination actually stops me from really being in the moment, as when I am listening to a lecture or music and my mind wanders. Anyway, this has been a quiet week here. Trying to make the most of the waning summer. Hoping you are enjoying them too Penny. Love from New York, Darby
Talking about gloomy days, it’s currently pouring with rain with bad weather forecast throughout the day. I’m meeting a friend for lunch so am hoping it’ll clear up a little before I have to go out as I’d like to go by train. This weather is after one lovely hot day – that’s British weather for you!!!
If I think back actually there was a lot of imaginative play with childhood friends, and gosh, yes, retirement and moving on from the constraints of work does free up the imagination and one can develop in so many ways. And look where it got you – to an open mic! Damn and blast Covid – it got in the way of so many things. But never say never Darby, I do hope you get your poetic imagination working again.
Love from over the pond and a very wet Lewes! Thanks Darby 🙂
I love that song, and I do think Lennon hit it on the head with so many of the verses. Imagine a world where religion and possessions didn’t make the decisions for the vast majority. It would make for a much better world. I don’t think you should beat yourself up too much for being more a realist than a dreamer. Here’s a quote from Modern Family that I keep on my phone (I’m not 100% sure it’s really from that show, though): “There are dreamers, and there are realists in this world. You’d think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true. You see, the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists? Well, without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground.” I love that and think we are all in this together. You, Penny, may see yourself as a realist, but I see you as a dreaming realist. Look at your lovely wardrobe, your cruises, and your visits to thrift stores. You see the possibilities, and that makes you a dreamer with an imagination.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Oh Marsha, what a lovely thing to say about me as I really like the idea of being a dreaming realist. I do like to keep my feet on the ground and nose out all the info and just be aware of things. But yes, I do dream and wonder and hope for so many things: personally and for others.
Love that quote and wasn’t Lennon wonderful. He was always my favourite Beatle!
Thank you so much Marsha 🙂
xxxx