John Wanamaker was once asked to invest in an expedition to recover from the Spanish Main doubloons which for half a century had lain at the bottom of the sea in sunken frigates.

"Young men," he replied, "I know of a better expedition than this, right here. Near your own feet lie treasures untold; you can have them all by faithful study.

"Let us not be content to mine the most coal, to make the largest locomotives, to weave the largest quantities of carpets; but, amid the sounds of the pick, the blows of the hammer, the rattle of the looms, and the roar of the machinery, take care that the immortal mechanism of God's own hand--the mind--is still full-trained for the highest and noblest service."

(from Orisen Swett Marden's Pushing to the Front)

Art credit: Astronomer by Candlelight by Gerrit Dou

"My son, I tell thee soothfastly
No gift is like to liberty."
--William Wallace

Art Credit: The Trial of William Wallace by Daniel Maclise

"Joy is the serious business of heaven."
--C.S. Lewis

Art credit: Mädchengespräche auf der Gänsewiese by Luigi Chialiva 

"Imagination is the key by which we unlock the doors of beauty." --Estelle Hurll

I'm continuing talking about resources for the Imagination in the Take 5s for about one more week--then we'll move onto the next Developmental phase--the Heroic years.

Art credit: Blick Aus Dem Entree by Henrik Nordenberg

I love the solution that someone just offered in another post for when you are overwhelmed and don't know where to go next.

Just. Start. Reading.

I couldn't agree more.

Art credit: Alice in Wonderland by George Dunlop Leslie

I've been talking about Imagination resources in the Take 5s the last couple of weeks. Someone pulled up an old post and I think this is worth posting again. It was in response to a mom who said she is a literal thinker. She likes her days mapped out.

You are describing the mind-culture we are as a people--very much in control. It's the system almost all of us have been raised in. Yes--you are a literal thinker. And so is just about everyone else. It's the lack of 'imaginative' power-the thinking of the heart-that is causing problems in the world in my opinion. Imagination is the seat of empathy, motivation, hope, vision, dreams. And we shut down its development by focusing on that which we can test and measure in childhood. The act of decoding words does not make a child a reader. The act of constructing a sentence does not make a child a writer. ONLY the imagination can do that. And the imagination can ONLY be developed in the atmosphere of freedom and a generous supply of the arts--story, music, poetry and picture. Mechanized learning interferes.

So what does leaving the shore look like? The risk is you lose control. You let your child bloom according to the seeds planted within individual hearts. You allow for failure.

The plus side--an awakening to beauty, love, joy--all expressions of the heart. The heart cannot be accessed through the mind. But the mind, that is accessed through the heart, will be whole. Scientists who studied Einsteins brain said the connections between the two sides were massive. He used his whole brain--that is the secret of his genius and the secret to ours.

​Art credit: The Fairy Tale by Walther Firle

Be a light, not a hammer.

Art credit: Mother and Children in Front of a House by Hermann Sondermann

From Delphian Book 10, p. 115:

"The man should be the master, not the slave of his learning... It is better to be the master of a little knowledge, with the capacity to use it creatively, than to be the unproductive carrier of all the learning in the libraries."

A creative use for our learning is the final step in the Pattern for Learning. Without an outlet, even pure waters become stale and stagnate.

Art credit: Mother and Child Reading a Story by Carlton Alfred Smith

In a book about education written a hundred years ago, I found:

"Formerly, the question was, What does a man need to know? Now the question is being asked, What does he need to be?"

The same question is on the table today.

A heart-based education is focused on 'being'--being curious, kind, honest, diligent, loyal, faithful, etc.

A mind-based education is focused on 'knowing'--the year of the American revolution, the order of the planets, the capital of Arkansas. 

What is more important to you? The 'knowing' or the 'being'?

You have to decide that for yourself. And then pay attention to what you are spending the most time doing. Does it align? 

Art credit: The Fairy Tale by James Sant

"Grapes must be crushed to make wine.
Diamonds form under pressure.
Olives are pressed to release oil.
Seeds grow in darkness.
Whenever you feel crushed, pressed, or in darkness, you're in a powerful place of transformation.
Trust the process.
Trust God."

Art credit: Vendemmia, from the manuscript Tacuinum Sanitatis (14th century).