Imagine
On the 21st December 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on it’s mission to the Moon. It became the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return safely back to Earth. On-board were three astronauts, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders. These men were the first to see the Earth in it’s entirety, the first to see the ‘dark side’ of the Moon, and were the first to witness one of the greatest spectacles in history, ‘Earthrise’. For these men, it took three days to travel to the Moon, where they orbited ten times in 20 hours. Apollo 8 paved the way for Apollo 11, where one year later, in 1969, man successfully landed on the Moon.
Humans (Homo sapiens), are the most dominant species on planet Earth, and have made giant leaps in its society, much greater than any other species. Humans have advanced from cavemen with spears, to exploring the universe and reaching out to other sophisticated lifeforms. This change didn’t happen because of nature, or an accident, or even evolution. Every species on Earth are equally evolved, what makes the Human race different is our scope for imagination.
Not all cavemen were happy sitting inside caves, there were a few that wondered what else is nearby. These were the first explorers, a breed that are responsible for thinking and behaving differently. Although they did not know what was around the corner, this did not stop them from looking. They had the imagination to believe that something better was out there, and they went in search of that.
A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing, so pure and so innocent, asking questions, pondering what goes where and how things work. It has the capacity to dream up situations when they play, pretending to be their favourite superhero, acting out impossible worlds and getting lost in their imagination so much so that they no longer see the world around them as it is.
One man tried to imagine what it would be like to travel alongside light, he wondered what he would see, that man was Albert Einstein. Einstein used his “inner child” to continue to question the world around him, and is known to have acted “childish” at times of discovery. His imagination of wondering what he would see if he could travel alongside light, led him to the greatest theory of the universe, the Theory of General Relativity. A theory that predicts every event that occurs in the universe, and continues to be of vital use in the scientific community, as well as everyday life here on Earth. This theory works for a macroscopic universe, it only begins to break down as you decrease the length-scale towards the quantum level, where other theories are able to predict what happens.
Imagination helps us to grow, it leads us away from what is known, into the unknown. If you have imagination, nothing can stop you from achieving whatever it may be that keeps you moving forward. Humans had the imagination to want to reach for the stars, expand into space, and explore the Earth’s nearest celestial object that has kept the Human race in awe since the first time they looked up to the sky. They had the imagination to be able to write down, in a universally-mathematical way, how the some of the most complex concepts in the universe work. Everybody is special, everybody is unique, you must use that to your advantage. Learn to appreciate that those around you are equally important, they are no different to you. Use what you have like they did, and you will see that you’re capable of unbelievable accomplishments.
The power of imagination must never be under-estimated. Do not feel lost if you have not discovered your calling, or where you want to be, or what it is that you want to achieve. You have the imagination to find it. Take the time to imagine, let your mind roam free, and you will know what you need to do. You never know, you could be the person to find the next greatest discovery.
Imagine that?
A journey will take you to places you’ve never been before, imagination shows you what you’ve never seen before.