Imagination, doubt and hope are the superpowers of creative work

Amanda, about 10 years of age, in her 'princess' skirt

When I was a little girl, my imagination was vivid and I spent many a happy hour not just playing at but — in my mind — being a princess; being a successful business woman running an office; and being Audra, the lone daughter on the Barkley Ranch from The Big Valley TV series. I sometimes played with friends, but I was comfortable playing on my own, too, comfortable playing with imaginary characters, talking to myself, and working out plots and escapades that suited my mood and, let’s be honest, my desire to control the scenario!

My imagination ran free and I had loads of fun.

Now, as a more tempered and considered adult, I still employ my imagination — not to be someone different, but, actually, to be fully myself. I think, at least in part, I see myself as Writer today because I nurtured the seed my imagination planted in my head and in my heart: You could be a Writer, Amanda. Be a Writer, Amanda!

Sure, I have moments of doubt but I like what Amy L. Bernstein writes in her forthcoming book Wrangling the Doubt Monster, “…doubt is a near-constant companion of anyone making art in any form. Doubt is fuel as well as foe. Let us therefore not engage in fruitless attempts to banish doubt, or even conquer it. Let us seek productive co-existence with this emotional shadow that hovers nearby, just out of sight, like a ghost. Let us befriend the ghost … [doubting] is not failing. Doubting is not succeeding. Doubting is not about getting ahead or falling behind; stopping or starting. Doubting exists in that liminal space where every aspect of art-making is a shade of effort—an embryo of creation.”

And, I would add, that liminal space illuminates for us what is possible. Because every creative act is an act of hope — hope represented by what the artist creates out of nothing more than an idea, their own particular skill, and their dedication to their chosen craft. I love how Beth Kephart, writer and artist, answers the question, Why do we pursue a life of creative endeavour? “Is it because you’re still hoping with abandon? Is it because the word maybe is your breed of politics? Is it because you live as you write, as if you invented the comma, the em-dash, and the parentheses—the marks of carry on, and hold.”

The marks of carry on, and hold. Yes. I will carry on believing in the possibility of my imagination, in the positive force that can be my doubt, and in the belief that my creative output represents hope in this world for today, yes, and for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…I will hold onto all that, and more. 

Let’s play a game, she said to her friends.

Let’s pretend the grown-ups can’t see us.

Let’s pretend we can fly.

Let’s pretend we can fly around the world before dinner time.

So she and her friends did just that.

And when they had finished imagining themselves having the power to fly around the world, they went to their respective homes, ate dinner and slept the sleep of children confident in themselves and the power of their imagination.

What a good day yesterday was, she thought, when she awoke the next morning. I wonder what I can make with my imagination today.

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.