![\"Zoe](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ZoeBecker.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1\")
One concept I wanted to focus on that\u2019s been on my mind a lot lately is imagination. <\/em>I\u2019ve been thinking about it in two main contexts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First, in the context of writing. Its application here is self explanatory\u2013we need our imaginations to write (no matter whether you\u2019re writing fiction, non-fiction, or a hybrid). While that sounds pretty obvious, it\u2019s been something I\u2019ve had to make an intentional effort to remind myself of, lately. As Junior year relentlessly goes on, it\u2019s really easy to fall into a bit of a doom spiral about school, college, life, and so on and so forth. For me, that spiral has targeted writing specifically. I dread opening my laptop and spend outsized amounts of time just focused on tailoring my work to a specific contest or summer program. It is exhausting and demoralizing. And while there\u2019s certainly a time and place for chasing prestige, a recent conversation with my mom reminded me why I started writing as a little kid in the first place. I did not start writing to win contests or arbitrarily earn a spot on a college campus the summer after Junior year. I started writing because I love it. I love the freedom to come up with any story in the world and then make it come alive. I love being allowed to just imagine. <\/em>So, if you too are in the Junior year (or Freshman, Sophomore, or Senior, for that matter) rut, my first piece of advice would just be to return to imagination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagination as a concept, though, is much more broadly applicable. Like I mentioned, it\u2019s a weird time to be in DC right now. And I\u2019m not going to beat around the bush here. I will say with my full chest that what is happening in the West Wing is terrifying. Just today, the White House threatened the fate of the Kennedy Center which I have treasured for years (and which has had an indelible impact on my artistic upbringing). Doom is not the answer though. I\u2019m not saying this to be cheesy. I\u2019m saying this from a pragmatist\u2019s point of view, actually. There\u2019s some fascinating research<\/a> about how overexposure to so-called \u201cdisaster news\u201d can literally wear down our adrenal glands and fray our nervous system such that we become increasingly depressed and apathetic. The most immediate solution though, the one that we really all have access to, is political and social imagination. Political and social imagination are academic terms that describe exactly what they sound like: the ability to understand our reality and conceive of new ones. If we can focus our energy on imagining a better future rather than a catastrophic one, that is progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So much love, <\/p>\n\n\n\n Zoe Becker
Senior Officer, Writopia Lab Youth Advisory Board<\/p>\nShare this article:<\/h3>