A great book

justam

A person can read a great book
on the treadmill or in a favorite reading chair
oh, to pick it up any spare minute!
and, "Wow, this is a wonderful book"
to be caught up in the story for days
and think about bits and pieces inside it
even make some sense of fragments of life
for it is so universal maybe?
love it, love it, love it, and then
the last page comes and one is left wondering...
questioning the creation
to be left asking questions
about the whole nature of imagination in humans
we know it's valuable!
for art, surely
for problem solution too
of course!
but what about ultimate survival?
it must be part of it
to realize how some people use the mind's wheels to
get through difficult situations
and then I was inspired to think
about the best question:
"How can I use my imagination to make
my own life better on an average day?"

the wolf

there is not much better than a great book is there?

i was planning on sharing a story about my dad and books, something he said to me about good books a few years before he died. it showed what a giant heart he had, even if it was sometimes swallowed up by the alcoholism.

but i decided to keep this one story about dad for myself alone.

as to your question below? it's a great question, i try dream up and imagine new things every day.
hell, i probably spend most of my waking hours dreaming up characters, lyrics, or just phrases.
when i worked downtown, i used to sit outside at lunch, and make up back stories for the other people that would sit outside.
it was great. they always had happy endings, and that would make me happy.

justam wrote:

"How can I use my imagination to make
my own life better on an average day?"

justam

In this book, the main character was a child who grew up to be a writer. And, as the story progressed, it was clear that it was some kind of true and yet embellished autobiography. As the child starts to write stories, she realizes that she writes about her life as she wished it happened rather than only as it really happened. So, one felt that it was a clue about the whole book being somewhat true and somewhat wishful. Yet, in the story, it's clear that the child's parents are dreamers even while they live this hard life. And, in fact, they use their imaginative abilities to help the kids get through their lack of food, etc.

I started thinking about other stories I've heard where parents of children living through hellish situations get their
children through it by pretending they are in some kind of adventure. So as not to let the children feel the full intensity of the danger. I noticed this could be a survival technique if used appropriately like this. A mind trick to keep from freezing with fear or hopelessness.

Then I started thinking: it must be a talent or gift some people are blessed with. Like any other gift, it originally must have had some kind of survival benefit.

It all goes back to survival somehow, doesn't it? Brains, beauty, strength, being resilient, EVERYTHING!

So, then, I thought. If a person knows imagination is a strength, why not USE it to make one's life better?

That's the trail that lead to The Best Question.