My mother, The Greatest Showman, Henri Nouwen, and why we all need to imagine too much

Praise in the Morning, painted by Dorothy Calio. See more of her work at The Art Gallery at Shutter Speed Photo in Middlebury, CT Feb 8- march 24

Are you happy?

Well, it is Monday morning...usually not the happiest day of the week.

And truthfully, in an attempt to stay awake for a meeting last night I grabbed a grande coconut milk latte at 6:15 PM, and well...it worked...I was up until 11 PM and I regretted it at 5am this morning. I was not happy. And then a million thoughts flooded my mind, of all those things I need to do today....all of those things that are so good at causing inner turmoil before my feet have even touched the floor...and then...I did something bold and radical. I shut them out. I put them aside. And instead, I imagined.

I love to imagine. I love to create. I love to dream. And BIG. And for those who are not imaginers, creators or big dreamers, often we come across as ridiculous, all over the place, unrealistic. And honestly? I hate that. When someone cuts a dream of mine off or says that's "too much" or "keep it simple" or "the world is just not ready for that right now" I want to scream. Or punch them. Or scream then punch them. Dreaming big and imagining large fuel me...it makes me happy...especially when it results in making others happy. Especially when it brings God all the glory.

join me in reading Life of the Beloved with the beautiful women from the podcast Abiding Together--check out their Lenten book study that begins today!

I did three things this weekend that affirmed for me the absolute importance of creative expression and making others happy. The first was I went to my mother's art show. The second was I began reading Henri Nouwen's Life of the Beloved, and the third was I finally saw The Greatest Showman. As P.T. Barnum says, "we all have an act" and I think that when we discover what that act is, what that gift is that we have been given and are asked to use for good, imagination comes to life and is no longer some silly idea for the small minded to squash, but a concrete truth we recognize as necessary to live. No matter your age or what season of life you are in, you are never too old or too young or too anything to put your gifts to use and bring joy to others.

No matter the present trial this Monday morning...and let's not pretend here folks, we all have a present trial, can we really "consider it all joy"? I think we can. If we persevere in our dreams, if we stop starving our imaginations and feed them instead...with beautiful art, spiritual literature, great movies and whatever it is that fuels you and pulls you out of distress and back into possibility...we can consider it all joy. We can be happy. We can take our bruised selves who so often feel like we do not belong, that we might fail if we try, that people might laugh at our idea and that no one could possibly love us the way that we are, and rediscover the joy we were created for; the joy we have been created to give.

I think too many of us have stopped imagining. Too much work to get done. The kids are too small and need my full attention. The kids are grown and really need my attention. The house needs to be cleaned. I have to pay the rent. There just isn't enough time. It is easier and safer to stare at a screen. Whatever the excuse is, we make it. And that is a crime. Maybe it is the wounds that fester fear, or the bruises that remind us that when we put ourselves out there we can get hurt. Maybe we are afraid of stepping out and saying THIS IS ME. I AM GLORIOUS. THERE IS A PLACE FOR ME. I'M NOT SCARED TO BE SEEN. Because could that be a part of it? Could we be too afraid to be ourselves, to imagine what we are meant to be? But what if we move past all that? What if, no matter our age, we claim our act and imagine big and we go out and just do it? Because when we imagine too little for ourselves, we also limit what God is capable of working in our lives. Our God, Our Father, is a healer and a miracle worker...He can move mountains and restore sight to the blind. Look out the window and see all that He imagined, and created! Look into the window of your soul, and see all the dreams, see all the potential, see the act that you have been created for...and go and create it. Go and write it. Paint it. Sing it. Photograph it. Bake it. Take your imagination today and use it.

One of my many favorite lines in the movie The Greatest Showman (I will see this movie again and I will be bringing a pen and a pad of paper next time) is "Hyperbole isn't the worst crime. Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much."

Starting today, let's imagine too much.