Imagination

November is National Novel Writing Month, and in order to write the next great bestseller, you need some imagination and creativity! This week, Aria, one of the library's lab aides, discusses creativity, imagination, and how sometimes spacing out is more than just a 1000-yard stare:

   Imagination is what all great authors need. It allows a person to go to experience another world, beyond our own. As a frequent user of imagination, I can't bear the thought of not having one. I've fallen in love with the colorful world of my mind, and I plan on using a great deal of it for my writing.

    First off, let me explain why I bother to talk about imagination. I have Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism that makes me think differently than a normal human. I am quite introverted, although many people will think the opposite if they meet me in person, and I have a huge imagination. If you ask me what I'm thinking of when I'm staring off into the distance, I'd probably tell you a detailed story of something I made up for a book or a piece of poetry. Aspergers Syndrome makes me give up the natural ability to socialize for the ability to be a god in my imagination.

   Now you might think that my odd syndrome is unusual for someone like me. But some of the greatest minds and authors of our race probably had Aspergers Syndrome. Here is a list:

• Bill Gates
• Isaac Newton
• Jane Austen
• George Orwell
• Woody Allen
• Mark Twain
• Thomas Jefferson

    Imagination is the key to creating things from books to new technology we use in our everyday lives. We rely on people who think differently to solve problems the average Joe couldn't. The person that you might think of as strange or different might be the person who cures cancer. So the next time you see someone that you think is strange looking off into the distance, try to imagine what they're thinking of. Maybe they're escaping their everyday lives by looking through the eyes of a dragon, or even a giant squid. Or maybe they're thinking of nothing and just like the color of the wallpaper. Although they may be different, the beauty of their imagination magnificent. Just like the authors that write the books for everyone to enjoy and read at the UCC library.

Check out these cool books: