An Imagination of the Heart: Smack Dab in the Imagination by Dia Calhoun

"An imagination of the heart is an embodied act."

~Nathan Schwartz-Salant 

    

  Mythology and Clinical Practice, Jungianthology Podcast

This wonderfully multivalent quote by Jungian analyst Nathan Schwartz-Salant, made me think of different kinds of imagination. As a creative professional I try to convey emotions, through both my writing and sculpture practices. Would imaginations of the heart be those centered on emotion? Emotions are always "of the body." 

What about an imagination of the mind? Would this be more related to thinking? For me, thinking often feels disembodied. It is easy to rush around thinking of the "ten thousand things" one must do, attend to, and be absent from my body. The body becomes simply a vehicle for thought.

To bring a thought into the world however, to write about an idea or to execute a plan requires the body to carry it out. 

Feelings, when conscious, are always "felt" in the body; the sweat of fear; the heart-pounding of rage; the tears of joy. Writers must embody their characters, their settings...to be concrete instead of abstract. As a writing exercise this week I will try to write with the imagination of my heart instead of the imagination of my mind. I'm curious to see how that changes my work.

Also, it is interesting to speculate about other types of imaginations. An imagination of the soul? An imagination of the throat? Hands? Would a dancer have an imagination of the feet?

 What fun to think about.