Response to "Visibility"

When reading this article I observed 2 main topics: 

1. the source of imagination

2. the distinction between the "visual to word" imagery and the "word to vision" imagery

When I think of imagination I think of an abstract idea that we bring to life in our heads. Calvino suggests that imagination has great power to bring us anywhere and create whatever we desire. But these thoughts cannot stem from thin air, could they? Is it possible for us to think up something that has never been thought or created before? or are we constricted to the limitations of our visual experience? Can we only imagine what we have seen? Dante would say we can imagine new things that are divinely inspired. These thoughts rain down from heaven and it is up to us to interpret them and turn them into images. I personally would have to agree to a certain extent. I think that we have the ability to think up the unthinkable. How else could the innovation that we see today have been created? Someone had to conceive the idea and find a way to bring it out of imagination and into the physical. Whether the idea was divinely inspired or not is another question, but I do think that it is possible for it to have come from somewhere other than our visual bank, which we add to every day.

I found it both interesting and eye opening the idea of where and how the imagery we see in our heads is born. I had never really thought of this idea in the past although it is a part of my everyday life. Calvino references Dante's point of view which brings a religious aspect to the discussion. I have a strong religious background, and the part of the article that references the believer's vision of the characters and stories in the Bible really hit home. All of the images that I associate with the Bible and the stories that I read come from what has been presented to me from the church all my life. When I read, I can see images and scenes painted out based on what I have been taught to believe as the truth, but the truth is that nobody really knows what an accurate depiction of characters and stories in the Bible would look like. Historians can try to put together a logical picture, but it is impossible to really tell. This can be an example of a "vision to word" or a word to vision" process. I see images and then am able to form my own understanding and narrative. At the same time, the images that I am seeing would not be there if it was not for the words that influenced them. 

Vision is a strange thing. What we see and how that translates to imagination is an interesting process. The way imagination can be formed from our own creativity is also a strange, but amazing process. We have the power to make something out of nothing. We all have the potential to create and change the game with the power of our minds and the visions that we can bring to life. Whether that inspiration comes from above or just within ourselves, it can make the world of difference if we embrace it and see where our minds can take us.