Imagine All The People....

Is imagination more important knowledge? Albert Einstein's reply: "I'm enough of an artist to draw freely on my imagination, which I think is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." 

When we are young we are encouraged to use our imagination. We are asked to draw, paint, write and play however we are moved. No matter the story we tell we are praised for using our imagination. And then it happens. We grow up. We learn there is no Santa Claus. We learn the princess in the castle doesn't really exist. We learn that GI Joes don't always make it out of siege from under the couch. The sky isn't always blue and the grass isn't always greener in our reality. Imagination is looked upon as an illness. Box it. Bag it. But certainly don't encourage it. 

Imagination is what spurs us to create and to strive for better. We use it to create businesses, build buildings, write stories, and for those of you with children, parent. We become brilliant when we use our imagination. Without it Columbus would never have set out to sail the seven seas. Our tallest skyscrapers would remain three stories high. We would never have looked across the river and imagined a bridge to get us there. We wouldn't have taken to flight. We would be flat, grounded, stuck...

In The Clouds

If imagination is the gas to get us to our hopes and dreams. Knowledge is the vehicle that will carry us there. We can only spend so much time in the skies before we make our way down to Earth and hit the floor running. When I was a child I'm sure my father hoped for me to one day marry a doctor or a lawyer. Anything but a musician or a poet. Certainly not an artist unless it was just a hobby. Imagination is for hobbies. Knowledge is for the work force. I would argue that without both we would have no work force. Those with the greatest imaginations take the greatest risks. And quite frankly those with the most knowledge are often times to fearful to allow their feet to leave the comfort of the ground in which to fly. However they are also the ones that make imagination reality. 

So whether you were the straight A student or the artist. Whether you spend your time on Wikipedia or Pinterest. We need each other. We need those with  over active imaginations that allow us to dream big. And we need those with so much, even too much knowledge that it hurts. 

Aim for the clouds and hit the floor running....


Albert Einstein: dropped out of secondary school, failed his exams in college, had a child out of wedlock, divorced in 1919, married his first cousin. And yet he is known for E=MC^2, the Theory of Relativity and his acceptance of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Do not let life's circumstances define you.