In this excerpt from The Imagineering Education Course, we explore the connection between creativity, imagination and dreams and why we often find it so difficult to make our dreams come true.
Peter Pan is a timeless story that explores the themes of childhood imagination, adventure, and the desire to remain young at heart. Peter embodies this idea, of course, because he never wants to grow up. The story suggests that in childhood, imagination and adventure thrive, but as we age, it begins to wane until, for some, it disappears completely. Its timeless popularity reveals an innate desire to reconnect with our childlike nature, one that is ripe with creativity, imagination, and dreams.
Over the years, there have been many adaptations of J.M. Barrie's adventurous tale. Other than Disney's take on the story, I love Robin Williams' turn at playing Peter in Steven Spielberg's classic film Hook. In this telling, the boy who refused to grow up actually does, and along the way, he loses who he truly is.
In Irwin McManus' book The Artisan Soul, McManus says this of Peter as portrayed in Hook:
“Part of Peter Pan’s journey is realizing that somewhere along the way he lost his childlike imagination. Long before, he had traded it in for logic and sensibility. As we are all expected to, he had left childhood behind and become an adult. Somewhere along the way, was convinced that maturity equaled an absence of imagination. To dream is a thing of children, to imagine, a luxury adults cannot indulge in.” (The Artisan Soul, p. 92)
Children excel at using their imagination; it's a vital part of their play and how they interact with the world. They actively use it to create and solve problems. Then, what happens? Well, we go to school, we go to work, and those traditional systems have a way of breeding and rewarding conformity, not creativity. We begin to lose our childlike imagination and trade it in for logic and sensibility, as we're all expected to. We're told to stop playing and grow up.
Walt Disney had this to say about that:
“Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.”
We can grow older and still remain connected to our creativity, our dreams, and our imagination. In fact, imagination is a prerequisite for innovation and breakthrough solutions. We can't expect to do things the same way as we've always done them and expect different results; that’s what's commonly referred to as the definition of insanity.
As kids, we often have dreams, really big ones. At that point in life, we haven't developed a sense of limitations; therefore, anything is possible. But as we age, changes in life and the voices of others begin to slowly erode our belief in those dreams.
But what's the big deal? Why is dreaming important, anyway? Well, it’s because dreams serve as a compass to guide us and inspire us to take action. Dreams become our vision, and it's been famously noted that where there is no vision, the people perish, and the first to perish is often ourselves.
So where do dreams come from? They come from our imagination. It's the fuel that powers the engine of our dreams. Keep this in mind: all creation is a manifestation of imagination. I want to say that again: all creation is a manifestation of imagination. All that exists began as something that was once imagined; it began as someone's dream.
Imagination always precedes creativity. Then comes the tricky part: moving the imagination into image, transforming the invisible into the visible. To make something tangible, you have to actually do something.
You see, dreams require action, and the only ideas that truly matter are the ones that get turned into realities. There's no proof of creativity without action. Action trumps intention. Without action, the best intentions stay within us, trapped inside of us, and it doesn't change anyone's reality, especially our own.
But here's something to encourage, and challenge, you. Walt Disney was known for saying, "If you can dream it, you can do it." Yet in between the “dream it” and the “do it” is a step that Walt would say must be taken called, “risk it.” You have to risk something to step out in faith, to step into the unknown and pursue that thing that you really want.
So why don't we do it? What prevents us from stepping out and taking that risk in pursuit of our dreams? Typically, what stops us is a fear of failure. Let me share something with you, though; contrary to what we have so often been taught, it’s okay to fail. Let me repeat. It’s okay to fail. In fact, I want to give you permission to fail; yet when you do, remember to fail forward. Failing forward is failing towards action, not inaction; it’s learning from our mistakes in order to not repeat them. When looked at in this way, we see that failure is really not an option, it's actually a necessity. It's something that we all need to encounter to help us grow.
For instance, think about a baby when it takes its first steps. Babies don't fall right down and say, "I quit! That's it!" No, they get back up and do it again, and they fall again and again and again. But what's the biggest difference between a baby learning to walk and us as adults trying to pursue our dreams?
Typically, it's that the baby has more perseverance.
The baby gets back up over and over. But what we often do is give up the first time we fail in pursuit of that dream. Instead of giving up, I want to encourage you to have the persistence of that baby who wants to learn to walk. When you fall, keep getting up, no matter what it takes. Don't be afraid of anything that stands in your way, especially yourself.
In The Artisan Soul, McManus goes on to say this: “It takes courage to not only accept our limitations but also to embrace our potential. We live in fear of failure, convinced that failure will prove us to be frauds. But we forget that failure is part of the creative process.”
Think about this: how many masterpieces were painted without practice? How many best-selling books do you think were written in a first draft with no edits and no revisions? The creative process is just that, it's a process. And as you are stepping into your creativity and growing it, as you are rediscovering your inner Pan and remembering how to tap into the innate imagination that you forgot that you have, I want you to know that there's a masterpiece lying within you, a dream that yearns to escape. You just have to have the courage to let it out.
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