#MicroPoetry|January ’19 Reflections

Dreaming and imagining are something we are hard wired to do. When we nurture these gifts, especially with one another, possibilities emerge that are generative and creative. Yet even the best idea, the most brilliant solution, and novel innovation are never born unless a step is taken to begin to do curate that which is imagined upon the horizon. This verse plays with that challenge/invitation to take that first brave step.

We are a planning society that often favours agendas, processes, information gathering and reporting. Sometimes it can seem that in the midst of all the preparing, the doing never happens. And sometimes, perhaps often, once the doing happens, it does not unfold as we had anticipated. This tension can paralyse, because in the anticipation we may find ourselves lacking flexibility to respond to the unknown and unexpected. In this musing, I hope to embolden us when the goal is clear, but the path may have become obscure.

Too often we are shoved into a shortened story of who we are. Whether friends, family of origin, schools or workplaces, we can get confined to a few particular shorthanded snippets that neither reflects us nor imparts the depth of who we are. What if we intentionally told a different story of ourselves. What might that look like? If the tale you tell about yourself or others tell of you does not fit, maybe it’s time to bravely tell the one that you know is you …

Tell me about the children in your life.
Tell me about the mentoring you do.
Tell me about the responsibility we have to nurture resilient, dynamic & critical thinkers for the future.
Without imagining telling these stories, we stand in danger of forgetting that our Now is not a possession, but an inheritance we are invited to nurture well so those who follow shall too thrive.
What stories do you tell the children in your lives so they too can continue to be faithful stewards?

Courage is a funny thing. Often, we frame it as heroic and valiant, glorious and worthy of star-making. Some of this may, in fact, be true. But it seems too limiting and can lead us to forget or not see such acts in our own lives. Whether those actions are our own or offered to us, the connexion between courage and hope are often small acts that allow people to take action in a time when it is easy to become apathetic.
In what ways have you experienced courage, even in the midst of doubt and fear?

Perhaps it’s a cliché, but there remains great import in exploring that freedom can never be truly attained and realised if it is hoarded for a few at the expense of others. Often, in that paradigm, the illusion requires structures and practices the keep those who are not free to be isolated form the illusion of those who are. Otherwise, the injustice becomes clear for all to see. Oppression is not one way – one may benefit, but all suffer. What, therefore, does freedom mean or look like if it is not attained at the expense of another but the liberation of everyone?

What does reality mean to you?
How have you experienced it shaped?
Do you feel free to create it or does it feel like it is imposed?
These questions are connected with the manner in which we relate to our own agency. Whether individually or collectively, what does it look if we consider that we are shaped by others?
What might it look like if we consider that we posses the ability to (re)claim our ability to shape the world around us?
Finally, as you consider these questions, which one seem freeing and what might it look like if we focused there moving forward?

The idea that the heart is the place in which creativity resides is interesting. Rather than consider that imagination, as an act or a verb, is not solely a cognitive act, but one that includes the place where care, insight and intuition reside seems like an opportunity to nurture dreams. This does not deny that making dreams come true often requires deliberation and consideration. But seeing the imagination as a dance between heart and mind, in which it begins with the former, seems like a provocative opportunity to generate new meaning.
What do you think?

What does this day look like for you?
Was the bed lumpy?
Coffee spilled?
Flowers blooming?
Surprise unexpected?
Where have you focused your attention?
That to which we attend is that which we will nurture and see.
What if today was approached as a blessing yet to be realised?