{"id":1458,"date":"2021-01-04T12:45:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T18:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2021-01-05T08:03:57","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T14:03:57","slug":"eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Energize Your Imaginative Life With 11 Simple Resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imaginative living grows with 11 resolutions.<\/p>\n

\"Resolutions
Recharge imagination-Rainbow Eucalyptus tree\/Eddie Kopp\/Unsplash<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Professor Clyde Kilby wrote about the art of living imagination.<\/p>\n

He was inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.<\/p>\n

\"Ignite
Tolkien and Lewis collaborated at the Eagle and Child in Oxford\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kilby opened every semester by giving students a copy of his resolutions to live an imaginative and fulfilling life.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the \u201cchild of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. At least once a day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change<\/a> to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said:\u00a0 \u201cThere is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. \u00a0There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment and then nothing.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worth potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parenthesis in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual maturity.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to.\u00a0 Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person.\u00a0 I shall not then be concerned to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are.\u00a0 I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their \u201cdivine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic\u201d existence.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. I shall turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably as C. S. Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n
                  1. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggest, \u201cfulfill the moment as the moment.\u201d I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                      \n
                    1. If for nothing more than the sake of a change of view, I shall assume my ancestry to be from the heavens<\/a> rather than the caves.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                        \n
                      1. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by an Architect who calls Himself Alpha and Omega.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                        Read these to start each day and see where you might go!<\/p>\n

                        Feel free to share this post imaginatively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                        Imaginative living grows with 11 resolutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[108,116],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-happiness","tag-happiness","tag-imagination"],"yoast_head":"\nEnergize Your Imaginative Life With 11 Simple Resolutions - Steve Blaising<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Energize your imaginative life by reading the 11 resolutions used by a top English literature professor before each semester began.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energize Your Imaginative Life With 11 Simple Resolutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Energize your imaginative life by reading the 11 resolutions used by a top English literature professor before each semester began.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steve Blaising\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T18:45:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-05T14:03:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Rainbow-Eucalyptus-Tree-blo-683x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Blaising\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Blaising\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Blaising\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40a659701b6bed01005bdbf57f264c20\"},\"headline\":\"Energize Your Imaginative Life With 11 Simple Resolutions\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-04T18:45:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-05T14:03:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":636,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40a659701b6bed01005bdbf57f264c20\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/Rainbow-Eucalyptus-Tree-blo-683x1024.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Happiness\",\"Imagination\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Happiness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/eleven-resolutions-to-energize-an-imaginative-life\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energize Your Imaginative Life With 11 Simple Resolutions - 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