by Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Exploration

Last week in Religious Exploration, we had a really interesting time speaking about imagination and how imagination can be fun! And as a bonus, imagination is crucial to those of us who care about the world we live in and our interconnectedness.

At the beginning of the class, we lit the chalice and then participants tried to guess what was inside of our “Wonder Box”. One child usually says, “a bicycle” and another says “chicken nuggets.” (it’s sort of a ceremonial things that happens.)

From the Wonder Box, I revealed the object for the morning and I said “Oh look it’s this!” and I held the object out in front of the children. And….they were silent. In my hand was a blob of orange clay, twisted and squished on one end, a paper clip sticking out of the top of it, and a pipe cleaner, twirled around a scrap of paper, was protruding from the side.

“You don’t know what this is?” I asked.

The kids ventured guesses like a squished cat or a space alien. I said, “Hmmm! I can’t believe you don’t see what I see here! Of course this is a sculpture of what my brain looks like or at least what I think my brain looks like.” Everybody chuckled.

We tossed around the fact that there are so many different ways to look at one object . Everybody has a brain which works differently from another. We have our own unique level of imagination.

That’s why abstract art is really cool, because the artist might’ve had something particular in mind when the piece was made, but when every different type of person looks at it, they interpret it in a different way. We discovered more about the elements of abstract art and a little bit about Jackson Pollock, and how he claimed that his art came from a subconscious voice and he had no control over what his hands and feet did and how he danced and splashed paint on his canvas (which was usually splayed on the floor.)

What would the world look like if we all had the same type of imagination or we all saw things the same way?

We all agreed that it would look pretty boring.

Imagination needs to be fueled and encouraged because it’s so very necessary.

The children made their own creations that were supposed to look abstract or non-recognizable to somebody else, but had meaning for them.

While they created, we talked about some books that we have in the RE library which I think are excellent stories about imaginative brains. We explored how cool it is to have imagination show up in different ways in our brains. Humans solve big problems using imagination like in the book “What to Do with a Problem.” Humans invent things that make life easier for people and for animals like Temple Grandin did. People may have genius imaginations when it comes to illustrating, even though they may have a difficult time reading, like Aaron Slater. Humans can teach others interesting ways to break out of stuck habits, and spark imaginations that have softened or become depressed. We know this from reading the book “Creature Habit.”

At the end of the class we tried drawing with our eyes closed, just making whatever lines or shapes that our hands produced, using a pencil or marker. After, we opened our eyes to see if there was something random that our imagination drew. In mine, I found a duck, and also a Loch Ness monster 😆 The children found their own special creatures and things in nature.

The brain is a brilliant thing and we encourage children to try to think outside of the box when they come and gather together during Religious Exploration. We hope you can check out the wonderful resources we have in our library, many of which talk about some very inspiring people, their imaginative ways of thinking, and the ways they’ve changed the world.

What to Do with a Problem https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-do-you-do-with-a-problem-kobi-yamada/1123314501

The Girl Who Thought in Pictures https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-girl-who-thought-in-pictures-julia-finley-mosca/1127912736?ean=9781943147618

Aaron Slater Illustrator https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/aaron-slater-illustrator-andrea-beaty/1144896216?ean=9781419753961

Creature Habit https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-creature-of-habit-jennifer-e-smith/1138717901?ean=9780593173060

Scribbling with my eyes closed,

Robin