The practice however is the same: to develop courage in choosing to open our hearts and expand our vision to hold the different layers of our experience, no matter how conflicting or challenging they may seem.

To hold our experience in this way requires a certain kind of resourcefulness nurtured through creativity and desire (the embodied mind), more so than healing that stays at the level of logic. One of the most potent avenues for expanding this psychological capacity is through the imagination.

Imagination, simply put, is the capacity of the psyche to translate perceptions (from direct encounter with the world) into new elements in the embodied mind (images, ideas, concepts, etc.). Symbolically speaking, imagination is a creative intelligence that nurtures the domain of potential. Where the habitual ends, imagination begins.

Imagination is activated by mindfulness. With a steady mind, we can strengthen this faculty, amplifying new realities and possibilities. It’s through the choice to break out of the familiar trance where we recognize new ways of co-creating our world. Through this intelligence, we translate insights (that were not available to us before) into inspired action.

Equipped with imagination, we can navigate the world with increased openness, in turning feeling less stuck and more resourced in navigating collective terror.

Situated within an expanded worldview, imagination is the practice of staying connected to a creative source as a means of survival. The gift of imagination is the ability to see beyond this moment and restore awareness of the larger web of human history. Acknowledging previous times of despair, betrayal, violence, and avenues for hope, replenishment, and connection, allows us to envision new ways of navigating crisis.

Despite the content of the mind, mindfulness anchors your attention in the realm of potential — where anything is possible. At its core, mindfulness is a practice of possibility, not positivity.

A relational practice between what happens and how you respond to what happens.

When you are no longer at the mercy of your conditioned mind, you restore your sense of choice. At the highest level of consciousness, we creatively participate in life.

Imagination allows for creativity in a time where cycles are repeated and history is re-enacted. The North Node in Pisces reflects a vision of compassion that is gentle and wise. The collective tide is turning toward what is actually happening beneath the stories we are fed and the lies we believe. Fate has a way of uncovering the truth.

We all have habitual reactions that are rooted in unconscious beliefs about self/other/world, and mindfulness addresses these beliefs and imagination transforms them with care.

When we change our story, we change the landscape of the moment.

By cultivating imagination, we can feel more capable in holding pain while moving toward an ideal. Sustained connection to the vision is the healing mechanism, without which we might be more vulnerable to perpetual despair.

My hope is that we can consider the role our imagination might play in life, especially as a means of coping and surviving difficult times.

For now, as you contemplate imagination, I invite you to explore:

• what reality do you wish to nurture?

• what kind of a world do you long to experience?

• how can you be in service to that ideal?

May this eclipse season bring you moments of sweet insight that set you free.