We are Here to Inspire IMagination
Inspiration
Inspiration is a key part of what we do here at Only Thoughts of Ownership. It is so important to us because we want to cultivate what has been lacking, particularly in the school system. Inspiration is the process of mental stimulation, specifically in the direction of something creative. Interestingly it was not until looking into the definition of inspiration we found how important the creative component was. Sometimes when we think of inspiration, we think of a spark of some sort that gets you to move in a direction that is different than your conventional behavior, but it is also for your benefit. And maybe that is the creative part - The just doing something different. Sometimes, when we think of creativity, we tend to think of art, writing, philosophy, and even technology. So while inspiring is something we have always done, we can say we also inspire you to believe that creativity has no limits or no linear definition. It can rest in the way you technically think - Consider someone like Marie Kondo. She is internationally known for the way she feels about organizing. Organizing is considered a logical skill, not a creative one, but she has found a way to use that skill creatively. We will always inspire you to know that your creativity lies in how you think and how you execute. That is what will provide space for yourself and others.
The Educational System
Now while we always serve everyone, we do target the educational system. We work with youth, admin, and school staff, and we inspire them to remember their why for themselves and the demographics they serve. Here we think of the school system, and its parallels between the judicial system and the workforce have been created to reduce inspiration and imagination. If the school system is effective, students will be inspired to join the workforce and settle into a life of normalcy that funds someone else’s dreams. When considering the school-to-prison pipeline, we can go as far as to say there are procedures and policies in place that push at-promise and minority youth into the juvenile and prison system. Traditional schooling tends to give the mixed messaging of we want you to have imagination but not too much imagination, only in the ways that we tell you to. Add inherently problematic systems and processes in the mix. There is little room for imagination. In the book In the Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson, he provides data about children and how their imagination declines as they get older. Children are 96 to 98% percent likely to score in the creative genius category before age 5. That percentage decreases to 32% for children by the age of 8. By the time they become young adults, that number is as low as 10%.
And that is where we come in here at (OTO). We intend to rectify, and we serve Schools that have the desire to make the changes within the educational system, but they are not always in the position to do so. We are inspirational, we are imaginative, and we are unconventional. We are all the things that strike fear in traditionalism. With that, sometimes we wonder, are we really radical, or are we just closer to who we would have been without domestication of education? To be clear, there are helpful elements of the education system, but the ways the educational system is harmful are worth taking a thorough, radical look. Because all of us in adulthood had to somehow find our way back to imagination to provide an example to the youth we serve, this inspiration thing we do is not a trend. We are essential to the survival of imagination.
What is imagination?
Imagination, by definition, is The ability to form new ideas or concepts of external objects that are not present to the senses. What if I told you that many of us youth, Young adults, and adults alike have to consider imagination as a muscle. With the data presented in the previous section, the longer people exist in the world; the less imagination people will have. But when it comes to data, we always wonder if imagination has reduced or we know the answers that people want, and we become complacent when providing those answers. Either way, imagination is always accessible through daydreaming or visualizing a possible reality if we act on those things within us. Considering most entrepreneurs, there was something that they saw that could fill the need or skill, and they found a way to monetize it once they began executing what they had in their minds and brought it to the world. Sometimes imagination is the first step of radical faith in your ability to create the life you want. Imagination is the ability to move past the “no’s” that you have been taught and the “no’s” you somehow began telling yourself without them anymore.
Over the years, we have heard thoughts are things. With that in mind, most of the things we see are stagnant imaginations. We know you have new ideas and concepts; we also know most of us bargained for a little less because that is what we have been taught to do. We are here to remind you of the creative genius That has always been in you, and it has just been a little more unheard each day. We know if you still have access to that thing inside of you that says there is more than this. We say this knowing you work hard, and now it is time to work hard for you. We say this knowing that somewhere you knew you settled for something from yourself or others because that is what you have been taught to do, and you know that now. Your imagination always knows because it has never really left. It is ready and waiting for you to execute who you are meant to be. And we hope to meet you where we where you are, which is like us discovering a little more of our imagination every day.
The highest human act is to inspire - Nip tha Great