Bodhi on one of the new red/orange velvet chairs
One day last week, I was passing by a little second-hand store in Cambridge, and saw these two old velvet chairs. They were stuffed with down, soft and squishy (my idea of perfect furniture). They’re even a little hard to get out of, which invites relaxation. When I got them home, I sat in one and imagined that they were once owned by a happy, fun couple. I could see us (I had joined them in my mind) sitting around with friends, laughing and eating (of course!).
Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) once said, “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living….it wakes up the brain cells…” I have been “playing” with my imagination lately, more like when I was a child, and while this is just plain fun to do, I can also feel it changing me. Something powerful happens when we imagine ourselves, and our lives, in a different way; people, places and things, that we thought were so fixed and solid, begin to change in response to our thought.
I had my coat on Saturday, literally walking out the door, when I had the idea to invite some good friends over for dinner. It felt like the idea just blew in on the wind. I ran it by Jack and he said, “I love it!” Even though this sounds like such a small deal to many, to us it was a huge change. Years of anxiety that our home was too small, and that our cats were too much (for others!), changed in a moment.
That evening we were sitting in our living room, in the new chairs, having the most beautiful, relaxing time imaginable, and even though I never think of our friend Jon as a cat person, he said after that he really enjoyed Fred, who joined us for the meal.
Let’s begin to imagine the lives that we really want to be living, start to play with our wonderful, creative imaginations, and let Life open up even more!
“People who lean on logic, philosophy, and rational exposition end by starving the best part of the mind.” William Butler Yeats
