Imagine being told when you can eat; being told when you can sleep; being told when or how you can speak; being told whom you’ll live with; being told when you can see or speak with your loved ones; being told how you will dress; being told where or when you can use the restroom; and/or being abandoned by those whom you love and trust. Then, you might know what it is like to be in a dire situation; you might know what it is like to be trapped in a box designed to oppress and destroy your potential- a box molded to confine your thoughts and actions to that which is situated within the makeup of that box, rather than that which is abundant , productive, and vibrant, outside of it… For many of us, “hope” is just a figment of the imagination, as most people incarcerated are unwillingly being groomed to believe that losing is okay, because that’s what losers do. It is the exact opposite of the purpose and intent of incarceration, or “Corrections”, as they call it- at least, here in Illinois…

Why is this a problem…? And why should YOU care…?
Imagine that these individuals are individuals who will, someday, be released back into your community…
Imagine of YOU, and others like you, were to demand that prisoners reject their communal concept of warehousing men and women and instead , embraced the concept of not just protecting society from offenders, but of helping to restore these offenders to useful citizenship- which means helping and providing them with opportunities to renew their minds, their spirits, so that they are encouraged and inspired to develop a different lifestyle.

Now- imagine that YOU could open your eyes and welcome one of those individuals, whether newly released, or awaiting their turn, overstanding that, at some point, we all lose and/or suffer loss; and with this knowledge you can help this person overstand that it is how we handle our losses that says everything about us; that this person is more than the worst thing that he or she has done, or been accused of; that if you want different, then you choose different- then you do different, because Destiny is not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice; that you could listen and overstand, his or her abnormalities, and thereby be equipped with the potential to help that person to reinvent himself…

Finally imagine if that is how society actually worked… what would the word then look like, considering crime and criminality? Considering recidivism? Then, you might begin to overstand, as Albert Einstein so wisely put it, that imagination is everything- that imagination is the PREVIEW of life’s coming attractions…Overstand that imagination is the spark of the fire that is change…

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