Imagination and happiness: skills for a better world

Like happiness, imagination is a learnt skill that empowers us to connect to the positives in life, both in mindset and, when put into practice, to transform into actionable steps for change. Imagination is a pathway to a kinder, more compassionate, empathetic world as we build our capacities to step into another’s shoes, to more fully understand how they feel and why they feel that way. Equipped with that understanding, we can better inform our responses.

At the recent Workplace Wellness Festival, I sat in on a talk by Marie McLeod (How to Thrive) who spoke about happiness as a learnt skill. Her suggestion was that wellbeing can and should be taught, that the solutions we seek are in education and that we should focus more on “what is strong” rather than “what is wrong”.

McLeod suggests that for mental health, we don’t have the equivalent methods often used to address physical health such as “broccoli and going to the gym”, meaning our ability to eat well and exercise.

But we can access other strategies; imagination and happiness are skills we can learn to build resilience, hope and a sense of joy. And, through imagination, shape and reshape our futures in a more deliberate way. To lead a life of meaning and purpose, and not just for ourselves, but rather, to contribute to other lives. Because when we gain a greater understanding of our neighbours, our community, our city, our world, we build the potential to craft a better space for all on our shared planet.

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Dawn is an imagination coach, happiness coach, Industry Fellow at Griffith University and runs experiential sessions and coaching on imagination. Learn more via DM or email: dawn@imaginationsession.com