What if?
We tried to envision a better future?
Why imagination?
Imagination is "the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality" (according to Merriam-Webster dictionary).
By using our imagination and creativity we can find new solutions and ways how we can transition to a more sustainable and equal future. The current climate crisis needs radical and creative visions. Our current systems are exploiting our planet and people. Therefore practising and acting on imagination and creativity will help us address problems in new ways.
Imagine: What if we live in inclusive and sustainable communities that are connected to nature?
Radical changes have often happened through brave people envisioning a better future.
Some examples are:
Miriam Makeba who imagined a world where instead of institutionalized racial segregation, people were treated equally and had the same rights.
Florence Nightingale who envisioned a future where everyone gets proper health care.
Malala Yousafzai who risked her life to fight towards a world where all girls receive education.
Imagination Exercise
This following exercise is based on meditation and connects creativity and awareness. Practices like these can help with finding how you can take action and see a problem from a different perspective. This will help you imagine how a sustainable and just future world would look like for you.
Mission: Imagine how your ideal, sustainable and just world in the future would look, be and feel.
Duration: 5 minutes or more
Let’s start!
Step 1: Find a place that is peaceful and quiet. Outside in nature e.g. in a park or at the beach would be best. Sit down in a comfortable position. Now is the time to set a timer if you want to do this exercise for a certain time.
Step 2: Now slowly close your eyes and arrive in the current moment. Ground yourself by paying attention to your breath and the Earth beneath you.
Step 3: Let your thoughts go as if they were balloons which strings you let go. Focus on your image of a sustainable world.
Step 4: Explore your imaginative vision of a future by using all your senses:
What can you see, smell, touch, taste and hear?
Who is there?
What are people feeling?
Try to do this for at least 5 minutes.
Step 5: Slowly come back to the present moment by noticing your body and what is going on around you. Then open your eyes. Write down what you experienced and how it felt. This can aid as inspiration and guide for your work, personal life etc.
And don’t forget!
Everything you can imagine is real.
by Pablo Picasso
If you want to learn more, here are some inspiring and useful resources:
Books:
‘From What is to What If’: Unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’ by Rob Hopkins (Non-fiction)
All We Can Save edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Kathrine K. Wilkinson (Non-fiction)
Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers (Fiction)
Articles:
Imagination Matters website (has many articles)
Searching for Neverland: A theatre of impossible futures
Creativity in the Wild: Improving Creative Reasoning through Immersion in Natural Settings
Videos:
A Creative Approach To Climate Change | Finnegan Harries | TEDxTeen
How We Can Build A Solarpunk Future Right Now (ft. @Andrewism)
Why This Gives Me Hope for the Future (ft. @Saint Andrewism)