在我成长的过程中，我从未真正意识到想象力有多么重要。可以说，想象力是童年时期的一项“技能”，它与生俱来。然而，当我们长大成人，面对着填空题答题卡、需要填写的简历模板以及Excel表格时，我们的学习就必须符合某些限制：填入那个小小的方框，限制在一页纸的篇幅内，还要在一张小小的电子表格中完成。那么，我们的想象力又该何去何从呢？
它似乎在褪色。
身为亚洲人（就像我一样）并没有什么优势。人们总是想当然地认为我们更适合工程或医学，这种想法就像一条挥之不去的尾巴。我们似乎天生就对数字情有独钟。如果你是亚洲人，你肯定数学很好——这当然是理所当然的。
后来我发现自己有点古怪。我反而对文字和图像情有独钟。12岁的时候，我的梦想是成为一名职业涂鸦师，如果一切顺利，还能成为一名漫画家。我的父母很支持我的这个梦想。不像其他人那样觉得这很荒谬，他们给我买了画册。每当妈妈看到我无所事事地坐着，或者在一堆课本里睡着时，她就会建议我：“不如画一会儿画吧？” 十多年过去了，我的情况几乎没怎么变。她仍然会因为我的画而发笑，鼓励我多画画，而且一直珍藏着那本画册。
或许，我应该继续走这条路。上周，一位朋友发给我一封邮件，里面有个招聘启事，标题是“涂鸦师”。我当时觉得这简直荒谬。但当我看到雇主——谷歌——时，就没那么好笑了，但仔细想想，这倒也说得通。谷歌确实在招聘涂鸦师，负责绘制那些经常出现在他们主页上，用来庆祝节日和重要时刻的图片。
随着年龄增长，阅读清单越来越长，作业越来越难，大学期间的课余时间也被兼职占据，那种可以静下心来，将想象力倾注于空白画布上的能力开始消失。相反，我的创造力不得不以另一种方式重新定义。
我的高中历史老师曾经告诉我，历史不是一条时间线，而是一个故事。她打破了历史的线性叙事，把原本枯燥乏味的古老历史变得生动有趣，引人入胜，有时甚至充满幽默。这就是她丰富的想象力。这也帮助我培养了对社会科学的热爱。我发现，想象力是会传染的。
但是，这种对想象力的热爱能在现实世界中找到立足之地吗？当然可以。
如今，越来越多的年轻人渴望加入创业公司，在那里，商业与创意交融，今天看似不可能的事情，明天就可能成为现实。谁能想到，不用现金或信用卡就能在星巴克买咖啡？现在就可以了。只需用智能手机扫描星巴克卡即可。谁能想到，不到40美元就能买到一台可以帮助发展中国家农民灌溉的脚踏水泵？看看企业家保罗·波拉克（Paul Polak）的成就就知道了。谁能想到，到了21世纪，我们竟然会用140个字符来交流？或许，推特（Twitter）的开发者们早就预料到了。
想象力不仅创造了童话故事和儿童读物，也为我们的生活方式提供了一种新的视角。想象力挑战常规，突破界限，并帮助我们进步。
不幸的是，这种想象力在课堂上被边缘化了，因为课堂上长期以来一直强调成绩和考试；在工作场所，这种想象力也被边缘化了，因为Excel表格和PPT演示文稿已经成为日常工作的一部分。
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我们需要鼓励更多创造力。暂时忘掉简历吧。别太执着于成绩。如果我们鼓励那位数学天才发挥想象力，他就能运用那些算法进行创新。如果我们鼓励那位生物学家发挥想象力，她就能为我们设计一种新的可持续燃料。如果我们鼓励那位经济学爱好者发挥想象力，他就能构建一种以人为本的全新商业模式。工具就在那里，你只需要将它们运用到意想不到的领域。这就是创造力——无论是在家、在教室还是在工作场所——如此重要的原因。
所以，上周深夜，我和妈妈一起重读了谢尔·希尔弗斯坦的儿童诗。结果发现，这些诗对成年人来说也同样精彩，甚至可能更胜一筹。
冰雪奇缘
我选择接受昨晚做的梦
然后把它放进我的冰箱冷冻室里。
所以，在遥远的某一天
当我老了，
我把它拿出来解冻。
我已将这个美好的梦冻结。
把它煮熟，然后让我坐下。
然后把冰冷的脚趾浸入水中。
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love the article!! :)
Awesome article! thx! It helped me with my academic piece of writing.
thank you all for the kind words, really appreciate it.
let our imaginations be reawakened!
Thank you. Diane DiPrima wrote a poem called "Rant". In it she repeats, over and over, "The only war that matters is the war against the imagination. All other wars are subsumed in it." Imagination is our ability to empathize, to relate, to imagine our selves in someone else's shoes. It is essential for compassion. And it is under attack. Thank you for celebrating it. May we all do the same!
What a wonderful article. I read this in a room where my Disney stuffed animal, "Figment" rests on a shelf behind me and an empty coffee mug with little cermic feet sits by my side. You helped reinforce that it is absolutely ok for me -for everybody- to embrace both that adult side just as much as that fun, imaginative side. It doesn't have to be separate at all. Thanks for such a refreshing read.
Off I go to get out my box of Crayola crayons, paper, pens, and my imagination! Oh, thanks for the reminder that we're not too old to dream and imagine.
One of the saddest experiences I have had was presenting a holiday music program to a group of children at a disadvantaged local school. My whole program was based on .. dreams and imagination. Should be easy with a group of kids I thought. Wrong. The simple question, "Do you have a dream of something you would like to do?" met with blank stares. "Do you imagine what it might be like to fly?" Nothing. These kids had no idea. It seemed they had no dreams. That one hour program was the hardest I've ever got through. A whole classroom of children with no dreams! Kids who didn't even know how to imagine.
I was so depressed by this experience, that I went home and immediately began to write a song for the next school I would visit. It developed into a children's song which I taught to a group of children in a YWCA in-school mentoring program that I was involved with. We recorded it at a local high school, it was played on our community radio station and it featured as the backing for a promotional video which the mentoring program still uses. It was called "When I Dream (I can do anything)."
The words I used to introduce the kids to the idea of dreaming and imagination were these.
"Nothing has ever been created, no masterpiece painted, no song given voice, no discovery unveiled, without someone, somewhere, who had a dream."
[Hide Full Comment]Janne Henn
this write up made think about the creative childhood of mine which I have decided to dust it new
Oh yes....let's pretend1
Walt Disney taught me an elephant can fly, and a little wooden puppet can wish upon a star and become a human boy. Some time along the way, most of that good stuff was lost by the wayside. I want it back !