Much needed imagination

For over 32 years I have lived with the spectre of bipolar disorder – the oscillating emotional wonder between irrational highs and debilitating lows. I’ve only recently got on top of it and am managing it quite well.  Hope has settled in.

I share that to say, I am a seasoned navigator of extreme change. I’ve lived most days of my life smack dab in the middle of it and have the scar tissue to bring something to the table regarding it.

I believe our whole culture is bipolar now. The evidence is everywhere. It is most markedly expressed in the stock market – a roller coaster of daily change. Our language even reflects our manic depressive state; we say things like the sun is high in the sky or low on the horizon. We try to get high in order to numb the low.

What is needed today is imagination. The ability to think beyond the confines of the present reality in order to manage and affect the results of change. Imagination grabs us and in turns invigorates our ideas to turn them to reality. Imagination excites the in-between place between what was and what will be. Imagination sets us apart from all other animals and makes all of us creators of a richer world, culture, and future.