I am sending this December newsletter earlier than usual.
When I heard that there was a movie being released that focused on Willy Wonka’s early life, it made me think about escapism, childhood and getting caught up in the magic of Christmas. With that theme in mind, I wanted to send this early to give us all permission to enjoy Christmas from the perspective of our younger “believer” selves.
Wishing you a festive period filled with wonder and awe !
Happy Christmas
Sinead
The combination of this time of year and the word imagination makes me think of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
I have watched the original movie many times and the fact that everything was edible, it was possible to travel by TV, and have 3 course dinner chewing gum always astounded me, it was all so fantastical. Even the names of the sweets ( fancy a Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight?), were so creative. I was in awe of the brilliance of it all.
I have seen the movie trailer for the new film about Willy Wonka’s early life and I’m looking forward to going to see it and just relaxing into a world of pure imagination. Why not give yourself a Christmas present of an escape to imagination, be that a trip to see Wonka or reading a far fetched novel where it’s all happy coincidences and happy endings or even allowing yourself a half hour of complete day dreaming!
Whilst we might all agree that being creative and using our imagination is beneficial for daily life, it’s not always easy to turn on the creativity switch.
Paige Grossman, author of do5ive Newsletter uses a technique called bibliomancy. If you look that word up in a dictionary, you’ll find a description such as, the following from the online Oxford dictionary, “the practice of foretelling the future by interpreting a randomly chosen passage from a book, especially the Bible.”
Paige uses this method when she is looking for inspiration or a spark of creativity.
So as I was writing this, I tried it. I picked up a book I have called “The Poetry Pharmacy” edited by William Sieghart – a gorgeous book by the way if you are looking for a gift for someone who likes words and books. As the name hints at, the book prescribes poems as balms for the heart, mind and soul. I opened on page 44 and this is what the last paragraph said “Whatever passion you have left behind you in life, whatever hobbies or activities have given you joy and meaning, pick them up again and make your life one that fits you.”
“It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation.” Herman Melville
“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” Stephen Covey
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” Originally from 1873 poem called ‘Ode’ by Arthur O’Shaughnessy but quoted by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in the 1971 movie.
Sinead Huskisson 