CREATIVE BREAKTHROUGHS
PART-TWO: INCUBATION
Lesson 7 – THE POWER OF FANTASY
Fantasy is our unique capacity to give ourselves, through our imagination, everything we desire that is missing from our lives – and in the exact way we desire it. In this lesson you will learn how to use fantasy to create and make profound changes in your life.
WORKBOOK EXERCISES:
FANTASIZE SOMETHING YOU WANT RIGHT NOW AND MAKE IT COME TRUE CREATIVELY
In this exercise, allow yourself to have your wildest fantasy. Choose a fantasy you wouldn’t dare discuss with anyone, and allow yourself to fully indulge in it. Remind yourself, as you write, that no one is looking over your shoulder. Sigmund Freud regarded creativity as disguised fantasies which “the artist works over in such a way as to make them lose what is too personal about them and repels strangers, and to make it possible for others to share in the enjoyment of them.”
When you are finished, feel free tear up or burn the papers containing your secret wishes. After all, they are yours to do with as you please.
PLAY WITH YOUR FANTASY
Fantasies are pure expressions of our imaginations, usually created without conscious effort or preconceived ideas. This makes them ideal subjects for creative expression.
Explore your favorite fantasy by expressing it in a medium such as paint, poetry, a story, a play, a novel, a video tape or photograph. If you already work in one of these mediums, try a medium you have not yet explored. Each medium will uncover or highlight disparate aspects of the fantasy which can add great richness and depth when translated into your chosen method of expression. This is also an excellent way to unblock yourself when you’re stuck in your own medium, since it forces you to approach the new situation without your usual self-expectations. It’s more acceptable to fail on unfamiliar territory.
Imagine yourself identifying fully with each character and part of your fantasy. The oneness with each element will give you the fullest experience of it. Allow your fantasy to grow and change as you play with it. If something new comes up, don’t analyze it or try to decide whether or not you should proceed in that direction; just follow it wherever it goes. Not only can your fantasy evolve and change, but also your ideas and preconceptions about expressing it. Let your view of your method of expression become as big as possible. See if the ideas that arise from using one medium can be translated to another.
Keep yourself as open as possible; if you feel you want to go in an entirely new direction when you switch mediums, go with that. The important thing is to be spontaneous and experimental.
