Inviting the Trickster to Shake up Your Imagination: Smack Dab in the Imagination by Dia Calhoun

Imagination is such a mystery. Ever wonder if it is chugging along in the same old patterns? Does it have its own method? If so, what are the signs it needs shaking up?

One sign might be that you use recurrent images. I always write about trees, bells, fountains. These are my foundational images. That's fine, we all have images and themes that are our central concerns. Then how do we know if these are foundational or simply fall backs to what is easy? 

How do I break my imagination out of its training, assuming it has been trained? I've been thinking a lot about trickster energy. Trickster energy is what slides in from the corner of your eye and whacks down the analysis, thoughtfulness, research, pondering, etc. 

This is different from the "aha" moment or epiphany (one of my favorite moments in the creative process). The trickster is the waitress on roller skates who shoots into the room and knocks over the well-laid table. Trickster energy shatters. Let the broken plates and glassware fall where they may. With luck, when you are picking up the pieces, you will arrange them in new ways. Fragments of blue water glass and red plates combine in a new mosaic you would never have thought of otherwise. 

I'm working on invoking this trickster energy to shake up my imagination. More on that next month.