When the mind can’t solve problems unless it’s organic, it’s because the imagination is underdeveloped hence the creativity has little to work with.

We all have two minds, the conscious mind which is where we find our math, verbal and linear skills, and the 90% more powerful, subconscious mind. It’s in our subconscious mind where we find our moods, our habits, our memory banks, our behavior and our concept of who we are – our personality. The subconscious mind also houses our two problem solvers – our imagination and our creativity.

No one has solved a problem without the tools of imagination and creativity. Ever. And in order for the creativity to work, the imagination must be developed. A child is born with an imagination, but it is possible to stunt the imagination both in children and in adults. Some misinformed parents and/or family members actually deter the development of the imagination believing that it is somehow harmful for a child to have one. They ridicule the child. Unfortunately that continues into adulthood by “well meaning” friends and colleagues. “You need to get real.”

Years ago on one summer morning, my five year old son was riding a type of tricycle called a big wheel. I mentioned something to him about riding his big wheel and he corrected me and told me that “it was a jet airliner.” I watched him “take off” in our large driveway and he began to “fly.” I came back from the bank and he was still outside on his big wheel and I asked him if he was “going to come in for a landing in his jet.” He informed me that “it wasn’t a jet it was a tractor.” We lived on a street with very little traffic which terminated in a cul-de-sac. After lunch I happened to look out into the yard and there was Randy on his big wheel, but he had it parked behind a shrub next to the street with my large flashlight hooked over the handle bar and facing backward (his radar unit no doubt). He sat very quietly and pretty soon my daughter came down the street on her bicycle. As soon as she went past him, out he came making the noise of a siren and pulled his sister over to the side and “arrested” her for speeding.

That’s called imagination. My son saw his big wheel as an airliner, a tractor and a police car in a very short period of time with absolutely no problem in doing so. Of course he still has imagination, and is able to solve problems and strategize for the company he works for.  In my practice, I routinely see children as well as adults with little to no apparent imagination, and hence – no creativity. How can they solve life’s problems?

What could cause this? For some reason many parents feel that their children must constantly be entertained. Haven’t you come up behind a minivan at night and seen two or even three video screens on? The kids don’t even have to watch the same show! When we were children on a car trip we counted cows or horses or cars with only one headlight on. The child isn’t given any opportunity to think and imagine – only to respond to outside or artificial stimuli. My children learned to read when they were four years old. Reading stimulates the imagination! Continued TV or computer gaming or other machine driven sensory input does not allow one’s imagination to develop, to think, to initiate though – only to react. In fact, quite often they are barely able to keep up. They just hang on and the input device leads them and directs their responses and their thinking. Many kids are diagnosed with something called Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD. Here’s a thought. Could it be that when the outside stimulus is absent, there is nothing for them to respond to? And since their under developed imagination plays such a very small part in their lives – they just drift. Children spend hours in front of the television. When they get bored with the TV, there’s the game boy, the internet, and all of the 21^st century machine driven diversions we can come up with to take control of the mind, instead of developing the imagination. Those devices program the brain to respond rather than stimulate original thought.

We move into the difficult pre teen and teenage years. It gets worse. Now in addition to continuing to do little reading, there are still the hours in front of the TV, the game boy, the computer games, email, twitter, facebook and etc., the cell phone and… texting. Texting has been shown to access what is known as the brain’s addiction center. Texting has been found to be the ultimate way to disconnect. People don’t even need to speak. And what they write is cryptic – like;  “R U Cumng 2 NITE?” Wow! How cool is that? No wonder the upcoming generations can’t spell.

Many families don’t even eat dinner together, another lost opportunity for real communication. One has to have the ability to communicate with others. No matter how bright one is, no matter how brilliant their concepts are, if they are unable to effectively and confidently communicate their thinking and ideas to others by conversation or by writing them or both, their thoughts are lost. So instead of the family sharing, the father might be checking emails, the mother is on her cell phone. And absenting conversation from the parents, the boy is reacting to the cues on his computer game and the girl is texting to her new best friend. The word dysfunctional comes to mind.

As adults, life’s pressures – finance, jobs, family and relationships bewilder and bury people under a huge load. If their imagination is under developed, they do not have the ability to solve their problems. Often In their jobs, they have responsibility but no authority to get things done. This adds to the pressures. Endless consensus building meetings and responding to everyday minutia and CYA emails leave a person feeling frustrated. The good feeling of accomplishment is often missing. Many can’t even come home and point to something they did that day and say “I did this.” Instead, they drag themselves in front of the television and then drug themselves by watching the shows, or they waste hours on the internet. They go to bed with unresolved issues because their imagination and creativity are so atrophied that they are unable to solve the load that they are carrying.

Many seek diversions that they can lose themselves in. Drugs of choice which include but are not limited to alcohol, drugs, sex, affairs, pornography even spending money to make themselves feel better. Life’s problems overwhelm them, and the tools that will deal with these problems, the imagination and creativity are for the most part unavailable.

Many couples along with not eating together don’t even go to bed at the same time. One is still sitting in front of the TV or internet trying to escape by frying their brain. The other person lays in bed trying to go to sleep while their problems keep playing over and over again in their mind. The brain is running fast, but it can’t resolve the problems. This person is in mental fibrillation, and they wake up in the morning up tired and un refreshed. Mental fibrillation only occurs in the beta mode – our conscious or analytical mind, never in our alpha or theta states.

When a heart goes into atrial or ventricular fibrillation, it is beating very fast… but pumping very little blood. The mind goes into mental fibrillation when the imagination has atrophied or never developed to the point where it is not available to solve problems. Think of mental fibrillation as the panic mode. Oh it’s running fast, but it is not able to pump out solutions. .

Is there a solution? If so what is it? It’s hypnosis or hypnotherapy. Hypnosis can be likened to the defibrillation paddles mentioned by Dr.Oz or that are used on the television program House MD. Many people’s hard drive (the brain) is okay, but some of their software (imagination and creativity) are either corrupted or not even open. As we’ve stated repeatedly – the only two tools we have to solve problems are the imagination and the creativity located in our subconscious mind. Positive books and positive thinking, while non harmful can’t help make behavioral change because they work only in the conscious mind. Real and permanent behavioral change can only take place in the subconscious mind. Hypnosis is the only way to access our subconscious on purpose as hypnosis is the bridge to the subconscious mind.

If you would like to investigate bringing your problem solving abilities on line, call Bob Crow for a complimentary discussion of your objectives.

Bob Crow is a behavioral therapist board certified in clinical and medical hypnotherapy. He practices in Atlanta Georgia working with those wishing to overcome stress, panic, phobias, procrastination and fears. With those that wish to perform better in sports, sales, public speaking, to stop smoking, to lose weight permanently, to quit sabotaging relationships and any other area of behavioral change that would make life more enjoyable.

This material is the sole property of Bob Crow and his heirs. Copyright 2010 Bob Crow. Copying, duplicating, reprinting or transmitting this material in any form or any manner without the express written permission of Bob Crow or his heirs is strictly forbidden and is in violation of US and international law copyright law.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 7th, 2010 at 7:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.