WOW Word-Of-the-Week #347: Imagination
March 29, 2011 by Susan Clarke
Imagination – mental creative ability.
Would you say that you have a vivid imagination? Do you spend time dreaming? How would you rate your mental creative ability?
This week’s WOW attention getter for me is the San Diego Tribune article written by John Wilkens and titled, “FOR MOM, PLAYTIME IS PRIME TIME: San Diegan’s approach counters stringent Tiger Mother mentality.” He writes, “Tammy Greenwood is nearing the end of what she calls ‘A Year of Living Playfully.’ She set a goal of spending an hour every day doing nothing but playing with her daughters, ages 9 and 7 — unstructured play, their choice.”
Mikaela, Tammy & Esmee
Tammy has fond memories of her entire childhood. Every hour of every day wasn’t scheduled with school and soccer and scouting. She had time for dreaming. “I lived inside my imagination for much of my youth,” she said. “It is hard work playing every day. Some days were failures. But overall it has been good for the kids and me. It just forced me to slow down and think about the time we were spending together, to pay attention. Anything that helps me be a better parent is good. ”
Tammy understands how competitive childhood is these days and that parents need to be goal-oriented and make sure their kids are getting ahead. But what if they are pushed to do something they don’t like? “What if they’re not happy? Teaching them to find what it is they love and how to make that work for them the rest of their lives — isn’t that what parenting is about? Figure out what they love so they will grow up to be happy adults.”
Amen to Tammy! When you do what you LOVE it never feels like “work.” This week’s focus is mental creativity. I challenge you to spend an hour a day playing. Could you do that? How would it feel to give your full attention to someone else? Or better yet, yourself? How could you be a better parent, grand-parent, spouse or boss?
Reader Responses
“Good stuff. Had me right to the end. I hate the word, “Boss.” Leader, supervisor, manager…….never the “Boss.” U think? Just a personal thing for me Susan. I’ve always thought, “Boss” gives such a negative connotation. Employees here at the Club don’t work for me, they work “WITH” me, we have different job descriptions and one aspect of the job may be to supervise and lead others. Have a great day!” – Kevin
“I love it Sooz! I am starting today!! I already spend time redesigning every interior room I find myself in — It is a fun mental game I play.” – Katie