POOF! It’s Gone… for now
Would you humor me for a minute?
I’d like you to remember a time when a cherished ability of yours was suddenly - POOF! - gone. Maybe you were an athlete that got injured before the big game or a singer who got strep throat before a performance. Maybe you were the straight-A student whose lack of sleep finally caught up with them during exam week.
Can you feel that? The feeling of “losing” a skill you had grown to love?
Yeah, me too.
Even if only temporarily impaired, the loss of a defining attribute or talent can feel like the end of the world as we know it (cue the R.E.M song). I experienced such a loss in early 2022. You might think what I’m about to share sounds insane, but I’ll tell you anyway:
I lost the ability to imagine.
My mind quite literally could not bring forth the image that corresponded with the words I was thinking. It was radio silent up there. Blank. Honestly, pretty terrifying. Before that day, I had always taken my imagination for granted. It was my own secret world that no one else could experience. No one could impose their agenda or tell me that riding a giant toucan and breathing underwater were impossible feats. The oddity of not being able to recall a simple image soon turned to the fear of losing that brain function for good. Would I never be able to spontaneously sit down a doodle again? All I wanted to do was draw my new dog, Wesley. Yet I couldn’t picture his adorable little schnoz.
Fast forward nearly 2,000 hours of hard work and I have since regained my absolutely insane imagination (thank sweet baby Jesus)! Since this mind bending experience, I have pursued the only rational route of inquiry…going full Sherlock Holmes on the connection between brain, creativity, & art!
Apparently, going “blind” in the mind’s eye can result from an extreme brain-overload. There could be a moment in time when you undergo something beyond your ability to cope or rationalize. And POOF! Bye bye, creativity, imagination, & all those less than vital brain functions. The mind shifts focus to surviving instead of thriving. It will focus on what matters most such as oxygen, nourishment, and safety.
Even though I consider imagination a vital function, sadly, biology does not.
Based on my limited understanding of the topic, an overwhelmed brain seems similar to an athlete’s injury. At the time of injury, a large amount of function is lost and the amount that remains is painful to access. A tame example could be when you hit your funny bone and suddenly, lose feeling/movement in your hand. Not funny at all! But as you recover, the amount of healing overpowers the hurt of injury. You might be achy and weak but at least you’re moving again! Soon enough the healed area will regain strength superior to that of the original.
Thankfully, the same has been true for the Gracen Imagination Station! When I tell you that this thing is firing on all cylinders, I’m talking pedal to the metal 24/7/356 25/8/366.
We go to physical therapy to recover from injury and drink that old family concoction to recover from illness, but how do we care for our brains? How do we help them function well even after being treated a bit like eggs - getting scrambled? I personally recommend reading Dr. Daniel Amen’s Book The End of Mental Illness or simply following him on social media.
I hope you take some time today to love your brain!
Xoxo,
g
