Imagine, Create, Believe

Love, knowledge, and pity: the three passions of Bertrand Russell. Who cannot agree with him? I know I agree, fully and completely. Love is the source of life. Of course, love can bring tears and heartbreak but, in the end, when you find “the one”, it becomes all worth it. This simple truth is found everywhere. Knowledge. True, I do not thoroughly enjoy some parts of my education, as is the case with everyone I’ve met. However, there is always the simple curiosity to find out who we are, where we are going, and why we are here. Granted, religion may answer these questions, but do we not have to find these things out for ourselves? And then there is our personal curiosity. For example, how does a computer work? What was West Europe like in the past and how did it get to where it is now? And, of course, what is it with Einstein’s theory of relativity? Then there is pity. Americans turn on their TV and watch the news every night to hear of wars, natural disasters and the latest celebrity scandal. Who doesn’t feel something for those who lost their homes in Katrina? Who doesn’t have the war in Iraq lurking there in the back of their minds? But, then again, who cares about Britney Spears’ personal woes?

In addition to Bertrand Russell’s three passions, I would like to add three of my own. These three things are the things that keep me motivated in life and make it more enjoyable. Without them, I would not have the talent I value most: my writing. Without them, I would not understand such topics as History, English and the rest of the Humanities as thoroughly as I do and I definitely would not benefit from them as much. These three things are my personal imagination, my own creativity, and my ability to believe in even the most obscure things.

Ever since I was a child, I have dwelled in my head. By that I mean, I spend most of my time thinking, sometimes very deep thoughts, and, sometimes, of things that could never possibly happen in the real world. After a few years, I learned that this latter happening was called imagination. With it, I can see events in history in my mind’s eye. With it, I can create worlds of my own and, ultimately, write of these worlds. With imagination, anything is possible…if only in my own head.

My creativity is a power that seems to change the world. If I am stifled from being creative, I tend to shut down and not be able to do as well of a job as I could. I once wrote a report that was supposed to have something to do with nature. My final draft was a script of me, as a news anchor, interviewing a tree. Creativity makes the world less of a confined prison, where everything is black and white…or grey. Creativity gives the world color, gives it pizzazz, and gives it life. The world itself is creative. Life is creative, whether or not we want it to be. Life throws at us the unexpected and we must choose whether to fight it or to make it our own and throw something back.

Almost every child, when young, believes in Santa Claus. What a wonderful feeling that is, to believe that an old, white-bearded man in a red suit is going to come down your chimney (or through your front door if you don’t have a fireplace) and leave presents under your Christmas tree! As we grow older, we tend to loose that ability to believe and we become colder and less like the jolly old man we knew as a child. Though, admittedly, I do not believe in Santa anymore myself, I still hold firm to some childhood beliefs that others might find silly and immature. Without it, where is the joy in our lives? How could we hope for a better future, if we did not have the aptitude to believe in the chance? What reason would we have to go on living, in the religious aspect? Isn’t it possible that little children may be more intelligent in the sense that they believe?

Without the ability to believe, I would have no imagination or creativity. Without my imagination, I would not have the ability to believe or be creative. Without my creativity, I would not have my imagination or ability to believe. They all connect and they all are essential to me for my happiness in life.