Fantasy vs. Reality

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Everything is fantasy before it’s made real. Are you sitting in a chair? That chair was once just fantasy—only an image in someone’s mind. Probably an iteration on someone else’s chair. Though, at some point, there was “the first chair.” Imagine that!

Way before that, someone else imagined—created a fantasy of—a rock tied to a stick. From the illuminated imagination of an early human the first “hammer” was made manifest. What wonder!

Everything in your house was only fantasy at one point. Your bed, table, stove, lights, plumbing, door, wifi, carpet. Everything. Your clothes. Your shoes. Heck, maybe even your hair cut.

Isn’t that just marvelous? Look at all of the invention you are surrounded by! All of the creativity. All the imagination.

All of it came from mind. Sure there are happy-accidents here and there. But even those happen while someone is trying to make their imagination real.

I share this because many of us seem to overlook the power that we have access to. Our ability to imagine—to fantasize—and then make real is an astonishing gift. And we all have access to this gift. It is not predicated on our academics or schooling or knowledge. It’s only predicated on our ability to think. To draw from within. We have to allow ourselves to imagine. To not shut our fantasy down. We have to let our ideas float to the surface and give space to ponder them.

And, no, not all of us are here to imagine new chairs or gadgets or physical objects. We can also imagine new processes, new ways of organizing, of collaborating, of understanding, or expressing. Every song, painting, sculpture, and dance was once just fantasy. Same goes for all forms of organization and governance.

Now actually making that fantasy a reality could take some work. You still need to ground down into your current reality to see how your fantasy can be made real. While Edison didn’t invent the very first light bulb, he fantasized about a better, more practical and useful light bulb, reportedly trying "at least three thousand different theories" and thousands more in material combinations. He fantasized about a light bulb that was cost effective to manufacture, affordable to buy, and actually useful by lasting hours and not using hazardous gasses and "hissing" at you. Then he and his colleagues dedicated two years to making that fantasy a reality.

Seriously, look around you and realize how much you are living with people’s fantasies! It’s quite possibly endless! And you’re part of it. All you have to do is allow yourself to imagine and create fantasies. The more you allow and ponder the more likely you will get fixated on one of those fantasies—and eventually make it reality.

When you realize everything around you was once just fantasy, you realize how powerful the human mind is—how powerful your mind is! Most fantasies are not completely novel. From a light bulb that lasts hours and doesn’t hiss, to a more efficient way to run a meeting, they’re both fantasies—until they’re not.

So, what do you fantasize about? Can you make more time to allow yourself to fantasize? To imagine a new way or improvement, or maybe something totally novel? Can you create an image of it? Can you imagine it existing?

As you give yourself more room to imagine—without negating and shutting down your own ideas—you may find yourself fixated on a certain one or few. And, who knows, maybe it’ll be the next hiss-free light bulb or some breakthrough in management style at work or a new self-expressive dance! The possibilities are endless when you give yourself space to fantasize and cultivate your own imagination.