I is for Imagination

July 17, 2025

“I dreamed about a culture of belonging. I still dream that dream. I contemplate what our lives would be like if we knew how to cultivate awareness, to live mindfully, peacefully; if we learned habits of being that would bring us closer together, that would help us build beloved community.”

~ bell hooks

I have to make a confession. Lately I have been waking up in the morning with zero expectations of justice. Even before I scan the news, I feel a heaviness in my heart that more decisions and actions have been made that actively hurt vulnerable people. I used to think – but wait, the courts will turn things around and protect the citizens, the lawmakers will remember ethics and morality and the common good. No more, at least not right now.

But I still have my imagination, a powerful tool. In my imagination, I can dream of a better future, one that is kinder and healthier and more peaceful. My imagination can get pretty detailed, can give me some clues about what I can do, today, that approaches that “beloved community.”

When I was a child, when the lights were out at bedtime, I used to “think-dream,” my phrase for dreaming about wonderful things while still awake. I don’t remember the dreams in detail, but I know they involved visions of playing with friends, going places with my family, taking on the role of a favorite storybook character. The dreams were quite vivid and very comforting and inspiring.

I still think-dream. I am not a political organizer, but I do wonder about things that I can do to help bring people together to speak up, show up, not turn away even when tempted to do so.

Some days it feels futile, but I have come to believe that caving in to the sense of futility is cowardice. So I keep trying in the tiny corners of my life.

In the last couple of months, I have had the privilege of working in a leadership role with some amazing residents in our building. We have a big project to organize, one that has the potential to energize and delight the people in our community. It also has the potential to divide people who wish things had been done differently.

When I think about the work on this project, I find myself falling into a think-dream state. How can we do this in a way that is collaborative with and supportive of people in the community? How do we who are doing the planning and organizing keep track of our own visions, and know when to expand them to include the visions of others? How do we stay motivated when we hit inevitable snags and barriers? Can we have fun doing this – not knowing at all at this point how it will all turn out?

Can our small group serve as a microcosm of what we would like to see in the larger world?

Sometimes I imagine what it would be like if the government and corporate folks in charge of the big decisions that have huge impacts on our daily lives would take time to intentionally imagine what a healthy and happy society could look like, feel like. I imagine them practicing a beloved community by coming together to cook, eat, make art and music, tell stories – children and pets welcome. Or to take regular group or solo hikes out in nature, untethered from phones or other tech devices. What would their lives be like, what would our lives be like, if these folks let go of their drives to dominate, have power over others, accumulate wealth well beyond what is needed? What would it be like if they sat quietly with their own thoughts and dreams, perhaps ones that they experienced as young children?

I have talked about how my photography practice relaxes and inspires me, helps me dream. My nature photography often focuses on little ecosystems of grasses and flowers and mosses, life forms that interact with and support one another. They work together. When taking photos of these little communities, I have typically tried to get the images “tack sharp,” to produce the most realistic image possible – to get the “this is how it is.”

I recently got a couple of new small lightweight lenses for my camera, lenses that are designed to produce “creative effects” – blurs, twists of light, unusual points of focus. I am playing with the lenses, just for fun. I wondered if I would be comfortable with not working toward sharp realistic photos. The pictures I am making right now are taking me somewhere new, helping me be more comfortable with what might otherwise be seen as imperfection. I am appreciating the blurs and twists and light bending, and beginning to see these effects as invitations to embrace uncertainty, the state of not knowing what is behind everything or how it might look tomorrow. I come to imagine even greater beauty deep within the images than I am able to see with my own naked eyes.

Yes, I do wake up these days with feelings of sadness, anger, terrible frustration. I wake up with no expectation of news that our nation is taking a sharp turn toward greater compassion and more collaborative and creative problem-solving. It just isn’t happening. Yet.

But my imagination, my think-dreaming, is bringing me to a place where I feel inspired to accept the uncertainty and to continue to move in small steps toward more beauty and connection.

Photos from Mingo Creek Park

July 2025