Angeliki Kekelou
Nov 5 · 6 min read

Our imagination is an inexhaustible source of energy. It can be used to either escape reality or shape it. A flicker of thought has the power to carry a fixated mind a long way. Far, towards the actualization of one’s dreams or further away from them.


We use our imagination every single day. We navigate through the maze of our complicated human minds and we feel ourselves on the brink of touching our fantasies, our desires, our dreams. This esoteric trip quite often starts with an “if only”.

If only I could… If only I had… If only I was…

A brief escape from our troubles follows and we lose ourselves for a while. It tastes sweet, but sometimes it feels bitter. These reveries rarely bring us closer to the life we wish we had.

However, there is an alternative option to this repetitive daydreaming that often follows that “if only”.

Sitting in the middle of our messy present, we permit our imagination to paint a picture of the things we want and don’t have.

A perfect picture, to alleviate the stress in our lives.


Stay with me for a moment, while we try to follow that syrupy stream of daydreaming, that leads us away from the mundane present. That wonderful and stuporous mind travel. The very stuff of dreams (literally).

Let’s reach the heart of the story our daydreaming spins.

Imagine the perfect scenario for you. Money? Love? Success? Travels?Superpowers? All of the above? Anything you could ever wish for or need is yours in this narrative. You control this picture completely. Paint it as you wish.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

This idyllic picture you painted in your mind shall be the first scene of our play. However, since every good story needs a progressing plot, it will be hopefully the first scene of many.

Scene one in your reverie

You find yourself on top of the world you just created, over the moon, in utter bliss. Leading a perfect life by your definition. You’re steeped in talent and accomplishments that could fill volumes.

So tell me. What’s the second scene? What happens in the third chapter? What is it exactly that follows after perfection?

If this was a movie, a series or a book, would a plot based on a sequence of effortless successes resonate with you? Would it be enough to create a compelling story? Would you truly connect with a character, so perfect? Or someone who overcomes the difficulties they’re faced with, without even breaking a sweat?

What is it exactly that follows after perfection?

In all likelihood, if this was the first scene of a play or any form of a narratable story, that pure bliss would be followed by toil. A struggle. A chance for plot and character development.

Let’s say that you are magically transported to where you wish you were in your life. What happens next? What happened before to lead you there? Where did the rest of the plot of this wonderful scene you created go? Is your story about constant circular bliss and carefree life in perpetuity?

Try and observe this scene from the spectator’s point of view. Genuinely consider whether this ideal picture would manage to grasp your attention. How invested would you be, as a spectator, in the future of this flawless, all-powerful main character? Sure, they might seem extremely likable, but it would seem we don’t have to worry about them. Their story seems to have reached a happy ending before it even started.

The perfect picture is static. It’s a fragment of a chapter of a story.

I am not implying that we shouldn’t want to escape our problems and worries. Sometimes, we struggle, we give it all we have, and yet we still find ourselves so hard-pressed in our current situation, that any form of escape, allowing our minds to flee, seems godsent.

That pressure, ever so often, leads to hours of online streaming, consuming content that provides a temporary distraction, and using our imagination as a means of escape from our reality.

Yes, it’s only natural to feel overwhelmed. No, we shouldn’t stop wishing for the situations that ail us to change. However, when our imagination and creative power are used solely as a vehicle to a short-lived escape from our present, they are also, to put it politely, underused.

I’m simply urging you to consider whether solving problems, overcoming difficulties and facing adversity, creates a more compelling narrative. A life layered and textured. We should dare to wonder at the very least, what happens when our imagination attempts to shape our reality.


Imagination is truly an inexhaustible source of energy. An ability we all have. Every single one of us. It’s this power that we usually use only as a medium that grants us instant gratification through escaping our current problems. Instead of applying this power to turn a new leaf and write a new page for our story, we use it to run from it. We run to the wonderful realm of dreams and we allow our story to write itself.


Scene One?

What if you shift your mind to where you are now? Look at your surroundings. Look at your life and observe. What do you see? Ask yourself. Is this the beginning of a story? Is it the middle, or the end? What happens next? Do you turn the page towards a new chapter or do you finish writing this one? Where is your character going next?

Then use your imagination, that same marvelous power that lets you instantly run to other worlds, to visualize the first step, in a series of many, that will lead you where you wish to go.

Follow the trail your mind is weaving to connect your present with your future. Get lost in the process, for it’s not only inevitable, but it introduces amazing plot opportunities. Find your way. Look around you and even if you don’t know where you wish to be, ask yourself: “What could make this more interesting? What am I going to shape into existence next? What is my story about?”


You have been given a gift, maybe it’s not what you asked for or wanted, but you got it either way. No returns. You have a mind capable of forming ideas, solving problems, telling stories. Imagination is a formidable weapon against the chaos of life. Embracing it is like having an ace up your sleeve. As if you’re in on a joke. The very least your imagination can do for you is to help you take control of the narrative and write your story.

Don’t just daydream of enjoying the fruits of the situations you want to find yourself in. Visualize the entire expansive journey that will get you there, or elsewhere, or everywhere.

You don’t know where you end up in the end, but the more you focus on writing this chapter before you, the more you become present in your own story.

The very least your imagination can do for you is to help take control of the narrative and write your story.


Photo by RhondaK Native Florida Folk Artist on Unsplash

The perfect picture is so highly valued because of the creative energy, the meticulous work, and presence put in creating it.

Above all, I believe it should be valued upon its ability to inspire us and remind us that the quest, the tempest, the labors mold us and bring our stories to life.

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