Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Infinitely Increasing Imagination

I have always had a very active imagination. It has actually caused me problems in the past, mainly in school, because I had trouble paying attention. My biggest problem in school was that my imagination was not only active, but built on itself. I would think of one thing, which led to another thought, then another, to infinity and beyond!

The other problem I had in school was the fact that I am not an auditory learner. This is one of the reasons I hate talking on the phone.

In fact, the worst intellectual torture I ever had to endure was when the company I worked for got Nextel phones, with that stupid, stupid, horrible walkie-talkie feature. Some people would talk forever, and there was no way to shut them the hell up. I would repeatedly push the button just to hear the sweet sound of the shrieking beep, which was much welcome over the droning voice on the other end of the devil-device.
A photo I took at Hesperia Lake: Reminds me of an
infinitely growing imagination, with many,
multiple offshoots

So, back to my original story. For someone who is auditorily deficient in terms of learning, a droning teacher who never writes on the board is what causes the mind to wander into never-never land. This includes most teachers for subjects such as economics, history and English. Unfortunately, some math teachers are so incredibly dull, it's really tough to follow them even when they write on the chalkboard.

This is why, despite being a terrific math student, I failed algebra in high school. But then I took it in the summer and got the highest grade in the class. See how that works? The quality of a teacher can spell the difference between an utter, giving up F and the highest A possible. I was so good at math that I went on to tutor math in college, and to get an engineering degree.

Another photo from Hesperia Lake: I also think of an
infinitely increasing imagination as what almost seems
to be an infinitely expanding root system.
But perhaps having so much trouble in school and college was good for me. It taught me how to use my imagination, and then how to control my thoughts enough to be able to incorporate my imaginative thoughts into new ideas. It taught me how to turn any phrase into an idea or story. When someone mentions something during the course of droning, I can gather a few thoughts that spur from it in the back of my mind, focus them into something coherent that I can write down later, all while capturing the main gist of what the person is talking about.

Now that I'm finished with college, and have had a great career in programming and web development, I'm ready to get back to using my imagination. I'm bored with my old job. My imagination could only take me so far when it came to programming. Now, I want to implement some of the many ideas I've had over the years. I want to keep those ideas increasingly building on themselves to infinity -- or at least to my heart's content.

36 comments:

  1. Everyone learns different, and all teachers teach differently. The good years/classes are when the teacher and student connect. It's usually a mistake, as noone really matches up students that way, though it's too bad they don't.

    A-Z

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think schools should ensure teachers engage their students more, and make learning fun. The best class I ever had was actually an English class where the teacher wanted us to make a diagram of the scene we read about in a book. It really puts you in the story. Hands-on learning makes every subject so much more fun.

      Delete
  2. I wrote my first three historical novels in Math and English (or, rather, Hungarian). It wasn't one of the assignments, that's for sure. The fact that a teenager has time to write three (!) freaking novels in class speaks volumes of how entertaining the lectures were... :D Yay for imagination!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Yes it's so easy to let your mind wander to other things when you have to sit in a lecture. :)

      Delete
  3. Kristen,

    Boy do I remember the old Nextel phones!

    Great post! I have a crazy imagination too. Teachers have to be the right kind of people to really teach you. Some aren't very good at it.

    Sunni

    http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Weren't those phones horrible? LOL

      Yes, I even had a math teacher that would drop his chalk so he could look up the girl's skirts and joke with the boys in the class -- and this was 9th grade!!

      Delete
  4. My mind wanders more when I am driving. Know this is not a good quality.

    Great post and cheers to your imagination. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops, be careful! :)

      Thank you for the compliment. :)

      Delete
  5. I was told in primary school by a teacher that I had a wide imagination and praised my approach to the story I had wrote, I was only 9 and these words stayed with me, hence why I now want to be a successful novelist. Hopefully, one day, I will be.

    http://thenovabug-blog.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You were so lucky, that's great! Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  6. It seems I'm reading about my days of school. My imagination always got the best of me and my teachers didn't appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe... too bad some teachers don't know how to use those imaginations as a benefit to make learning fun!

      Delete
  7. Hi Kristen! Sandy from www.sandysanderellasmusings.blogspot.com! Thank you so much for your compliment about the hearts, I love them too...and yes, our imaginations can be our best friends when we need them! Good post!! I also know what you mean about droning...there is a woman that calls my cell all of the time from a past employer, and I have a feature that when I see her name, I can say...I am in class, at the movies, driving, etc....She drones and I can't get a word in or finish a sentence. She keeps calling, and I keep up the excuses...hopefully soon, she will get the message! Not imagination...just using the tool and it's wonderful advantages! Ha Ha Sandy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope it works out for you, so you don't have to continue dealing with that.

      Delete
  8. If you had trouble paying attention today in school, you'd probably be diagnosed ADHD and put on medications. And have your imagination thoroughly stomped upon. Not so good at all.

    Blessings and Bear hugs!
    Bears Noting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing! It's crazy how drugs are handed out so frequently these days. I actually have such a strong aversion to drugs that I don't even take aspirin, even when it may do me good.

      Delete
  9. I was thinking the same thing as Rob-bear, which is the miserable truth. We're all expected to fit into a mold, but that's a load of BS if you ask me. Let your imagination run wild!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice post. My imagination has been both a boon and a bane too as it can get really out of hand at times lol. You're right about a teacher being a factor in passing or failing a class. I dropped my first attempt at Algebra due to a lifeless instructor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the overactive imagination is better than none at all, so I prefer the out-of-hand problem than the alternative. :)

      Delete
  11. I liked the humor in this. Made me smile. And I hear you on wanting to use your imagination more. I worked a full-time job for a long time that didn't utilize any creativity at all. It does get tiring in its own way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the compliments. I'm glad you get to use your imagination now. :)

      Delete
  12. I'm not fond of talking on the phone either. Congrats on your great leap from "F" to "A" to college tutor. Excellent! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm so glad I was able to hop back from that F, or I never would have had all my experiences!

      Delete
  13. I can so relate to your post. That's exactly what happened to me in classrooms too, except that I have always had excellent English teachers that I have never had reason to let my attention wander.
    Wow, programming? Nope, nothing of the sort for me.I put all my imagination not housework, raising kids and now, writing :) (also photography which followed) You are invited to myo ther blog http://shailsnest.com for a sample :)
    Psst... I like the way you write :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the compliment. It sounds like you've had a great life, with much more fun and imagination to come. I just followed your other blog. It looks very nice.

      Delete
  14. Those photos really do depict growing personality, although the second one kind of freaks me out!

    Interesting story about audibility issues and the walkie talkie. I always hated the idea of that phone, and was so glad when its popularity suddenly died out. But, do you have that issue when speaking one-on-one in person? Interesting subject. Writer’s Mark

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I actually like the creepiness of that photo, haha.

      I do actually have that problem in person at times, but it's not nearly as bad. The visual stimulation really helps, unless the person I'm talking to is droning on and on without letting up, and/or standing completely still with a really dull, bored look on their face. I still try to appear interested, but it's difficult.

      Delete
  15. I think it definitely depends on the teacher whether you like a lesson or not and how much you learn. I have a massive imagination, which thankfully I put to creative use quite often although it can lead to me drifting off on occasions....better to be imaginative that not though, don't you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, definitely! We would all be very dull people without any imagination at all. So very active imaginations are the opposite of dull! :)

      Delete
  16. Great post Kristen! Interesting that we blogged on the same topic. I wonder if anyone else did.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw one other on the same topic. Out of 1,882, there are probably a few more. :) Thanks for the compliment!

      Delete
  17. Your infinitely increasing imagination shows in ur blog :)
    Keep it up
    i was also a disoriented kid in school. Disoriented as in I build my own stories and land in Narnia when actually some other lesson is going on :P
    loved this post Kristen !
    good lck

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you, and thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I feel you! I hate my teachers coz they're so lazy to write something on the board. They just sit there, reading the book out loud.


    Sincerely,Miss Uncertain---sidetracked

    ReplyDelete
  20. So can I call you Buzz?
    And I'll let you hang out in my Imagination Room if you can fix my computer. :P

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.