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[NF] Have You Lost Your Imagination?

G

Ginkgo

Guest
As the years pass, I feel as if my imagination and creativity are being subdued. It's something I regret, because as a child, my elders always thought I was a sort of visionary. I didn't care what external boundaries there were, or why rules were in place. Thus, I would often deviate from the norm in the most charming ways - whether it be art, writing, or anything that required a creative touch.

I fear that I might not be able to evoke quality of fantastical imagery I exercised as a child, and I don't want to lose my creativity.

Do any other NFs feel that society has forced them to drive out their creative spark, replacing it with schedules, time tables, and measurements?
 

nightning

ish red no longer *sad*
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:shock: I hope not! Because that would mean no more NF-dom...

There's is nothing more fun than to see everything with a child's eyes. Not all of society force you to give it. If you insist, I find that you'll always find a place to let your inner child play. :hug:
 

speculative

Feelin' FiNe
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This can be healthy, though. For example, us 4w5 should move toward 1 and get things done in order to be productive and healthy. :) All the creativity in the world doesn't do any good if it is not brought into the world.

You might try reading "Fearless Creating." I've just gotten through the first chapter, and will be working through the rest of the book during NanoWrimo.

On a more philosophical note though, I think that the freedom of childhood is the perfect breeding ground for creativity. When we're children, the biggest consequence of getting a D grade is getting grounded. When we're adult, the consequence of doing poorly at our job is possibly losing our job. The stakes continue to get higher as people have careers, families, and responsibilities. This can make the work more deep and meaningful, but more responsibility can lead to more anxiety & stress which usually does not breed creativity. So, while the work may be deeper, it may not come as easily or at all.

You should check out NanoWrimo. If nothing else, at a basic level it's a month of free-writing, so you're bound to end up with some ideas down on paper at the end of it...
 

SilkRoad

Lay the coin on my tongue
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It is harder when you get older. All the (sucky) reality gets in the way, I think. I still consider myself an imaginative person, but I don't have the same degree of direct access to that world that I did when I was young. I was a very imaginative child, though I was always able to clearly distinguish between reality and fantasy.

I still haven't quite given up on meeting a talking animal, or finding the magical door to Narnia, though. :)
 

Snuggletron

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No, because I'm the one who drives out their schedules, time-tables, and measurements.

Suck it, ESTJ world.
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
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No, but then I'm not really living the adult world yet. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I don't want to face it... because I fear having to deal with all that Sensor stuff will make me dull.
 

EcK

The Memes Justify the End
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nah, it was in my pocket.
 

Polaris

AKA Nunki
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I haven't lost my imagination, and in some ways I'm more imaginative than ever. The difference between now and my childhood is that I spend more time using my imagination in a goal-directed manner. I dream of what I want to do with my life and make advanced use of my creative energies in order to accomplish that; as a child, I did little more than escape from reality and invent useless mystical ideas.
 

BlueScreen

Fail 2.0
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I've lost a bit, or else it has changed. There's less fire in it than in my early 20s. I just solve stuff creatively, don't hit the same levels of idealism. I'm a sceptic about my expressions unless they represent what I want to say perfectly. It kills a dimension.
 

Wyst

lurking....
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No, but I wish I could bring mine down a couple of notches.
 

Skyward

Badoom~
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No, but I wish I could bring mine down a couple of notches.

I could use some of your extra imagination.


My creativity is mostly a stream of consciousness. If I cant hook onto the stream my mind just hits a wall.
 

Wyst

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I could use some of your extra imagination.


My creativity is mostly a stream of consciousness. If I cant hook onto the stream my mind just hits a wall.

Lol - that's what I have too. My imagination is not creative so much as it is running and going no where. Kind of like this:


frostbite%20wheel.JPG
 

Skyward

Badoom~
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Lol - that's what I have too. My imagination is not creative so much as it is running and going no where. Kind of like this:

It feels like that nearly all the time! I usually have to be interested in the idea to pull it off, and a lot of my creativity is sort of a Tolkien-ien world-building type of creativity.
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
Do any other NFs feel that society has forced them to drive out their creative spark, replacing it with schedules, time tables, and measurements?
To a certain degree, yes, definitely. I grew up in an environment that didn't really support imagination and creativity, so I learned to keep it all inside.

I don't think I've "lost" imagination, it's just severely nipped and safely tucked away and the glimpses of it emerge only when I'm in a comfortable position. As I grow older, I find myself fighting against outside pressure to conform and fit into some kind of a box, so I think I might be trying to overcompensate on the things that have been repressed for quite a long time from the public.
 

runvardh

にゃん
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It's still there. Opportunity to use it has been significantly reduced, though. Then again, I don't feel the need to escape to it as often anymore. :)
 
Joined
May 31, 2009
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As the years pass, I feel as if my imagination and creativity are being subdued.

Oh crap, you lose your imagination!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!? :shock:
If that happened to me I don’t think I could live anymore or at least keep the void of boredom away which would suck me down and crush me.
 

OrangeAppled

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I haven't lost my imagination, and in some ways I'm more imaginative than ever. The difference between now and my childhood is that I spend more time using my imagination in a goal-directed manner. I dream of what I want to do with my life and make advanced use of my creative energies in order to accomplish that; as a child, I did little more than escape from reality and invent useless mystical ideas.

This for me too, although I still have useless ideas :blush:

I also find it harder to create for the simple sake of creating, which really frustrates me. As a child, I would draw or make things and it was so natural and not as contrived. Now I need some almost practical motivation, which is also stressful and limiting, so it's never as satisfying.

There's also the issue of the imagination being much more pure as a child - as you get older, you learn what is considered "good" art, what is considered "great" literature, etc, and it limits you in creating. I now stop and think if what I imagine would really "work" in reality, whereas I would just dive in before and try it.
 

Athenian200

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I also find it harder to create for the simple sake of creating, which really frustrates me. As a child, I would draw or make things and it was so natural and not as contrived. Now I need some almost practical motivation, which is also stressful and limiting, so it's never as satisfying.

Ah, this maybe why I haven't started to lose my imagination.

I was never a creator. I could never think of anything to draw in art class without looking around for something to draw, recalling a scene and trying to recreate it, or making some kind of goofy technical-looking engineering nightmare out of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, along with geometric shapes. I can still do all of those things.

My imagination has always been more limited to imagining how something I've already experienced would be different if several qualities of it were different. It also allows me to make puns and play on multiple meanings of a word, see irony, etc.

So if anything, I'm more imaginative than I once was.
 

disregard

mrs
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I felt like I had until I came back to this website after a dry spell if only because I'd gotten dressed up for a dinner party way too early and now I'm feeling like my old self again and will try to fit more of this into my schedule.
 
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