Sometimes I think if we worked harder at expanding our perceptions we would be more imaginative, which is a little like saying if we let more reality in, we'll become more visionary, which seems paradoxical but I think it's true. To take Partha's example above, if we weren't satisfied with just touching the tail, or the trunk, or the flank, but kept going until we experienced all three--that would produce, maybe, a transcendent vision....

Our brain can act like a prison guard, directing us to perceive only what we expect to perceive. We're used to seeing tails, so that's what we see over and over again, and the trench gets deeper and deeper until it's a rut... On the other hand, it must also be true that we have the power to free ourselves by training ourselves to expand our experience and especially our field of perception. I think this is what artists do regularly without even thinking about it.

I always find that the more I DO, the more active my imagination becomes, and the more creative output I get. It's always when I have too much time to sit around doing nothing, that everything dries up, and the time I thought I wanted is just wasted.

Guess it's like the concept of the "road less tread". Forget which writer it was who talks about going for a walk with an elder relative in the morning across a snow covered field as a child. Once they'd crossed, the older relative turned around and showed the child his straight steps while the child's meandered across the entire field and how the boy had 'wated time & energy' - which is when the Author decided never to stop exploring. If in the race to get to the destination, we ignore the beauty of the journey, who knows how many of life's adventures we'll miss.

We corcern about art. We know there's two kind of art. Soul touching and mind distortion. Soul touching makes us understand without think hard because beyond our mind can accept that. Mind distortion makes us respons of think, made conversations, or even doing something. I saw that your 'art' is mind distortion. That's not everybody can do. Salute to you..