“What If” you Brainstormed your Life?

A little boy sat in art class. On his desk was a blank sheet of paper.  The art teacher stared at his paper for a moment and asked, “What are you drawing?”

“A cow eating grass.” the boy answered.

“Where’s the grass?”

“The cow ate it.” the boy explained.

“Ok, where is the cow?”

“She ran away.” the boy said handing her his paper.

What ever happened to our imagination?

How long has it been since you let your imagination run free? Are you afraid where it might go? Do you harbor a fear that “to imagine” is wrong?  Why not ask God to direct your thoughts, trust that he will do so and then dream.

Let yourself think about possibilities without putting your brain on a short chain. Sit down and ask yourself some “what ifs.”

• What if  money were not an object, what would I do?
• What if I wrote about my experiences as a mom, dad, grandparent and shared them in a book or blog post?
• What if I pursued a hobby, studied a subject, got my degree?
• What if I there’s a better way to approach life?
• What if I dared to try something I have never tried before?
• What if I followed a calling I have avoided most of my life?

My friend McNair Wilson worked on the Imagineering team for Disney. The things they accomplished by creative thinking led to ideas that became amazing reality. In his book “Hatch,” McNair divided imaginative thinking into two parts. Brainstorming and critical thinking.

During the brainstorming, (the “what if” stage) no one was allowed to block ideas, or throw cold water onto dreams.

We can’t afford it.
Nobody will come.
That’s a stupid idea.
Nobody has done it before.

All those kinds of reactions were banned from the brainstorming session since being critical at the brainstorming stage would only keep people from seeing possibilities. McNair describes the excitement in the room when a group of executives watched the wall of become covered with “what if” sticky notes.  

Only after imaginations had been allowed to run wild and dreams were laid out in full view was the phase of critical thinking applied. It was then the team could talk about budgets and challenges. But by that time, the same excitement that fired imagination was available to tackle the hurtles and create solutions.

“What if” there was a blank piece of paper laying in front of you right now and you could fill it with your own “what ifs.”

Who would have dreamed that the void of space and time could be filled with planets, and stars, and flowers, and a love and life.

Oh wait! 

It was someone with limitless imagination. And one day He thought, “What if” I created human kind to love and live and dream like I do… Then, He did it!

Do you allow yourself to brainstorm the “what ifs”?
Have you ever seen the creative results of brainstorming with a team?

“What if”… the cow did eat the grass and run away?  [reminder]