July 3, 2010

Fantasy vs. Imagination

After I post the Chinese version of "Fantasy vs. true stories" in my Chinese blog, one of comments mentioned about a quote by Miro (abstract painter):
Imagination is about something possible but didn't happen, fantasy is about something impossible. (It might not be the original quote)
And the guy who left comment went further saying that "too much fantasy may do more harm than good for people because it encourages people to be phony, but imagination is always valuable and important for our creativities, such as in art, mathematics or other science".
I thought he pointed out something very important. And I totally agree with him. It also explained why I could not really enjoy fantasy and why I like mystery fiction so much: I don't care about things that are impossible; those seemingly realistic scenarios in mystery books really show true brilliant imaginations.

5 comments:

  1. I was a very imaginative and intuitive child who became creative in artistic ways. My drawings from that early time do include fantasies and some of the stories I wrote were fantasy filled as well. As I aged I was I kept my imagination alive and my intuition grew even stronger. I replaced fantasy with creative visualization. Through the use of creative visualization I have been able to accomplish some things I had previously thought were impossible.

    "What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are." -- Tony Robbins

    I still allow myself the luxury of fanciful day dreaming but I have no difficulty at all discerning the difference between what I can accomplish and what is impossible.

    I have discovered that if a believe in myself I will be able to do many things I previously thought I couldn't do.

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  2. tt, thanks!
    again agree while beliefs are not necessarily true but they do give us courage.
    love to see your works sometime. :-)

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  3. In my practice of Taiji Quan I remember a quote from Master T.T. Liang "Imagination becomes reality"
    I lived by that in my practice. I've always been an imaginative person and as a former working musician it was vital to my improvisational abilities. I've bookmarked your blog. There is much wisdom and beauty in your writing. Thank you.

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  4. Correction: MirĂ³ was not an abstract painter. He was a surrealist.

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  5. @dennis hodgson,
    thanks for correcting. i guess style wise he was considered as an "abstract" artist as well.

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