The Stain of Life

In today's culture, imagination and happiness are prized by many. Paintings hang on walls and fill museums, and plays are written. Imagination gives us stories and fun times, while happiness gives a positive outlook on life. However, not all people approve of imagination. Marcus Aurelius was one of them, believing imagination to be a stain on life.

He says, “Erase the print of imagination. Stop the puppet-strings of impulse. Define the present moment of time” (62). Sometimes people let the false images they conjure control their lives and are led down a path they might not have been if the imagination had not been a part of it. Other times imagination prevents us from living in the here and now, and we get caught up either in stories or the past, imagining what could have gone differently. If imagination were to rule our lives, we would be stuck in a false world, where there might be truths but nothing itself would be the truth. He reinforces his thoughts by talking about corruptions of the mind and how to deal with them. One of the ways is to tell yourself, “This mental image is superfluous” (111). This shows how we can deceive ourselves. In order for us to not live a fantasy, we must distinguish in our minds between reality and whatever we think something to be. Living constantly in a fantasy world makes us perceive life the way it is not, and getting so caught up in it makes us forget the tasks that we have.  He tells us to examine “the contribution any given action or event … has for the Whole” (21). Neglecting these would be to disrupt the order of the Whole, Aurelius would say, since it is the Whole that assigned them to us in the first place. While stories and remembering the past are fine, the problem starts when one is constantly involved there, and forgets that the present is a concern. “But imagination allows us to experience fictional worlds and escape reality,” one might protest. He would respond that the only reality one needs to be concerned with is the one we occupy. His viewpoint on imagination is also why he frequently writes about being gentle and kind to others. As humans, we create images surrounding people that may or may not be true, and instead of doing so we should just act kindly towards them and hope for the best.

Imagination allows us to picture that we are happy and create images that conform to this feeling. If we think we find pleasure and happiness in an object, and then the reality hits, we become disappointed that the item is not what we believed. If we do not create images of happiness, we cannot be disappointed when they are proven false. While it can benefit us for good, it can also harm us. We can then make situations seem better than they really are, and this could lead to damage and then the strings direct us to an action we might not have done if it had not been for that fantasy. Say someone is stabbed in battle, one he is only fighting in because he believes himself an excellent fighter when he is not, and when his friends rush to help him he waves them off, saying, “it's not that bad.” It is one thing to not complain about circumstances; it is another to shrug them off. Because he refused that help and made light of a situation he should not have, he dies. Imagination is positive, as long as it is not taken to the extreme of distorting the truth beyond recognition.

While imagination can be a positive aspect of life and brighten it up, Marcus Aurelius realized that there was another side to the coin. If not kept in check, imagination can distort the truth and could potentially ruin our lives. It can especially do so if it influences happiness to unrealistic extents. In situations, imagining that life is better than it actually is could lead to potential harm. Even though imagination has positive sides, Aurelius decided it would be better to live without it so as to avoid consequences, even if it meant sacrificing the beneficial. While he may have been wrong on some levels about the imagination, he does offer good points that warn against abusing it.