IMAGINATION - DEAD OR ALIVE?
I began writing this article after reading Deanna's weekly column entitled, “But How” FAOL Vol. 13, No 20, February 1-8, 2010. It was not intended to be submitted to FAOL for publication but was written as part of another project. It was also intended to be a “tip” rather than a question. By the time it was finished, I realized it is both.
Dateline several million years ago: “Observation coupled with Imagination and their power to alter the way we perform various functions are discovered.”
We are constantly presented with opportunities to invent new ways to improve our fly tying experience. But, we miss them. Why? Because we are not prepared to seize those opportunities. We are not in the proper frame of mind to blend that which is right in front of our eyes with our imagination.
When walking through a craft store you have, no doubt, seen some item which you instantly recognize as being just the ticket to incorporate into a fly. Why? Because you are likely already in the correct frame of mind.
Is it not possible that while eating his lunch on a construction site a worker taking his sandwich from its plastic bag had a eureka moment? Had he he discovered very inexpensive shell backs for nymphs? More than he would need in an entire season! Free!
Then seeing the magic marker on his tool bench discovered that the plastic from the bag could be colored.
This guy was just eating his lunch but was ready to seize the opportunity to do something different and new. At some point a tier discovered that as he wound his thread on the hook each successive turn added twist to the thread, and thus tightened it, making it round.
He also discovered that when the bobbin was allowed to hang freely from the hook that it spun round and round from the twist he had added.
Next the revelation! “If I spin my bobbin in the opposite direction I can remove the twist and flatten the thread. The flattened thread makes a smoother body!” “And if I spin the bobbin the opposite way I can twist and tighten the thread making it skinnier and stronger!” Same thread, two different qualities, one imagination.
The only difference between that tier and the rest of us was observation. A trait ingrained in us through millions of years of evolution.
Is it also well on its way to joining the dinosaur in extinction. We can prevent this travesty of technological evolution. But we must regain possession of our imagination first! Watch, observe, see what is actually happening, not what you think is happening. See in terms of possibility, not reality. This may be the only thing which really separates the great tier from the rest of us. He has seen with his imagination first, that which we see only after he has executed the design.
Let's imagine for a moment a truly universal fly. This thing is absolutely amazing. Fish it like a nymph. Fish it like a dry fly. Fish it as a Streamer. Fish it as a wet fly. This is nothing short of a miracle! Can we actually come up with such a universal fly?
Yes we can. In fact we already have invented this miracle; perhaps more than one. But, the one I am thinking of is the Muddler Minnow. (I adopted the screen name “muddler” years ago as I like to identify myself with versatility, though some of you might identify me with other things)
The name would imply that perhaps it was originally intended to be fished as a minnow imitation, and this may be so. Somewhere along the line, however, it was discovered that it also could be fished in all of the other ways cited.
How did this happen? Simply because some unknown fly fisher or fly fishers observed or discovered that this was possible. They used their imagination and were not bound by preconception.
Don't be bound by rules while at the bench. Go where the art takes you, freely. Others may scoff, but they are unlikely to discover anything new.
Rather they will abide in a world where they only copy others. A world with little imagination or creativity, wherein only the repetitions of the various steps necessary to tie a fly are performed, a world totally devoid of advancement.
Deanna's article alluded to the time spent in front of the computer as detracting from the physical health of our children. This is true. But, I wonder and am more concerned about what the toll is on their imaginations.
Playtime is extremely important, especially that which is unstructured, bounded only by the imagination.
Send the kids out to play. Get them out from in front of the computer screen where they are entertained. Put them into the theater where they are in charge of their own entertainment. A place where their imagination will flourish and a future full of wonderful dreams and thoughts of great things is discovered, and realized.
Little boys need to slay dragons; little girls need to be princesses. Dragons and Princesses are surely the future, not only of fly tying, and fly fishing, but of all things in the future.
Bottom line, who wants to live in a world devoid of Dragon Slayers and Princesses?
I pray that the next dateline isn't: “Millions of years of imagination in humans have died due to lack of exercise,” Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed.