Everyday, there are new articles about how cellphones have disconnected us as human beings and how the usage of language has deteriorated over time. We all use abbreviations we would not have imagined using a little more than a decade ago. As a writer, it certainly infuriates me when someone types, “U” instead of “you” or “k” instead of “okay.” But I think it’s not the texting or the short forms that have created the disconnection. The “disconnect” comes from us not communicating with ourselves at all and that possibly leads to us not expressing our deepest thoughts to others.
I have discovered how much writing relieves me, but I know a lot of people do not think of themselves as good writers. But the truth is you don’t have to be a good writer to express your thoughts to your own self and to people who are close to you. Write crappy poems, silly odes and weird stories. It really helps to give your imagination a chance to be.
Let the imagination be. I have discovered over time that it is imagination that has created everything: from the electric bulb to our favorite fictional tales. Only imagination has the power to take us forward.
The catch here is that while imagination can take us to ‘unimaginable’ places, it can also be very transient. For it to be long-lived, you must write your thoughts down or materialize them in some way, and this helps with everything really. It helps with academic work, with extracurricular activities and any hurdles that you might face in life. Imagine your way out and you’ll be fine.
All through school, I imagined going to college in America and here I am, living my imagination. Then, I imagined using my writing skills to voice my opinion on campus and here I am writing for The Wooster Voice! Of course all dreams are not this straightforward, but that’s okay. Even the wildest ones are powerful if you want them to be. There are so many problems going on in the world, and all I can think is maybe imagining a better place would result in a better place. Why have we stopped imagining? Imagination is what brought us so far and we must believe in its strength. So, my message is to “Go Imagine!”
And if you’re a fan of The Beatles, you’d know John Lennon got it right when he sang, “Imagine…it’s easy if you try … I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will live as one.”
Vedica Jha, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at VJha18@wooster.edu.