Good morning Mrs Tien andclassmates.
My name is Hui Xuan and I will be talking about how imagination canbreak societal boundaries and expectations, also known as reality.Imagination, is the act of formingnew ideas and concepts of external objects not present to the senses.Imagination could have been simply dreaming of what we love, butwhen put into action, it could push us past the limits of what human can do. Today I’ll be talking about the ways we can do so. Imagination breaks societalboundaries by stimulating creativity and innovation.
Some of the most innovativecreations have come from the simple act of imagining something more beneficialto us. Simply put, the creators are never satisfied with what’s currently givenin society, but instead seek to improve what’s already great. They evencontinue to grow and evolve their thoughts, creating products that change theway we live completely.Imagine if the mostcelebrated innovators, such as Bill Gates and the Wright brothers, neverattempted to project their dreams into the face of reality. We may never havehad the Internet, airplanes, and other spectacular forms of technology we relyon daily. Overall, imagination leads us to challenge the limits of humancivilization and drives technological advancements of our world.
Imaginationbreaks societal expectations by igniting passion. As adults we have been forced into aworld of duty and practicality where money and vocations dictate how we live,breathe, and experience the world. Jobs such as lawyers and doctors arelucrative, vital and irreplaceable in modern society today. More than often,parents push their children to follow this commonly taken route of white collarjobs.
However, have we ever stopped to wonder if we truly enjoy what weadvocate ourselves to?I’ve been told that as free individualsof society, we should not be doing things we despise, for the sole purpose tomake a living. Yet it does not seem like the case nowadays – somewhere along theway we have lost the connection to passion and purpose in life and replaced itwith the duty of survival and responsibility, turning us into people with noaim and no direction.Dreaming of what we can be allows us totap into our imaginations again, reminding us what it feels like to bepassionate about something and that we can fight for what we love. I mean, RyanGosling dropped out of high school to pursue his dream of being an actor and heeventually made it successful, garnering huge numbers of followers.
Who saysyou can’t be both passionate and responsible? Imagination empowers you to doso.Imaginationalso provides hope for positive change. Watching the news and hearing about theviolence, crime, causalities and sadness in the world is enough to make anyonebelieve that there is no chance for salvation left for the world.By believing that that isjust the natural course of life, we become a victim who is oppressed by realityand relinquish our innate ability to imagine.
Choosing to use our imaginativemuscle to innovate provides hope. And where there is hope, there is always roomfor transformation and change. Two things that are necessary for us to surpassthe expectations set by harsh reality, and create a better world forgenerations to come.Albert Einstein was indeed right when hesaid: “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Society and reality are merely manifestationsof what we have chosen to accept and focus on in the world. But when weactually want to create in our life, the possibilities are endless.
With thatkind of imaginative power, why do we perpetuate a reality that is less thanoptimal? We have the power to create so much more and it is up to us to use ourimaginations to change our lives and our world for the better. So to all of my schoolmates and teacherslistening to this speech, I urge you to start flexing your creative muscle, andbe spoilt by the infinite possibilities imagination provides you to break thelimits set by society. Thank you!
