LeliaThomas.Com

Impossibilities Made Possible

I like to think in “what ifs.” What if that did exist, or what if that was never created? What if this happened, or what if nothing ever changed? There is a world of possibilities in what if. It’s where I believe people like W.B. Yeats or Tennyson–people whose works I have always admired–lived; it’s what they breathed into their works and what has transcended time. Oh, they spoke much of what is, but part of what makes their works and some others works stand out is that they eloped with the theoretical and the fanciful as much as they did factual and the known.

What if is what makes the world go round, when you really stop to think about it. Without what if, a way of thinking and experimenting that many take it upon themselves to laugh at, would there be any such thing as electricity or irrigation or democracy or writing itself? Would we be driving, flying or sailing? Would I be writing to an international audience via a screen and some connected wires at work? What if has made this world you and I live in, the world we hate and love all at once.

I worry that in our world of modern education, in our world of “no child left behind” and standardized testing and IQ evaluations, we hinder creativity and innovation. There was nothing standard about the Wright brothers or Einstein or any number of other extraordinary individuals from history. They just happened to be willing to consider what if and act on it.

You might have an amazing idea that could change the world as we know it, but perhaps you’re afraid to allow it to blossom. Perhaps some people have laughed at you because of it. None of that really matters. If your idea can help or change one person for the better, that’s already a great idea. Live and create to inspire and advance.

So create your art and write your books; sing your songs and play your instruments. Build your models and carry your projects from conception to birth and beyond. Do it with a gentle, yet passionate heart. What if I told you will never know what is possible until you question the impossible?

Comments ordered from oldest to newest.

Flowers online

With all possible “what if” we could live in a perfect world. I do not know if impossible is always possible. It could be possible but not always. We should not force to make it possible.