by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine

Do the words what if stir the breath of creativity that results in works of art?

I really like “what ifs.” To me, they are a mental exercise that opens my mind up to entirely new paths I might not ever have meandered along without asking myself that question. I tend to believe that “what if” is the question that is the inspiration for creativity, discovery and scientific advancement.

What if ships weren’t sailing off of the edge of the world like we thought they were? What could that mean?

What if I played these notes together on the piano and you played these notes on the violin?

What if three ghosts visited a guy who had no Christmas spirit?

What if I painted my view of a starry night over the Rhone?

What if I give my love to this person without worrying about whether or not that love was returned?

What if I help someone in need?

It seems to me that everything beautiful may have been sparked by these two powerful words, what if.

In this way, I am like the three year old who follows you around asking you why. Only I’ve added to the “why” repertoire with “what if.” Isn’t that how science works? First we ask, “Why does this happen?” and then we follow up with “what if I tried this?” At its very roots, two simple questions – three words can open up the world.

What it comes down to is simple curiosity. And the desire to explore. “What if” embodies this spirit – the spirit of exploration and the willingness to try things on the path to creative discovery.

We tend to think that we are so scientifically and technologically advanced, that there are probably very few what ifs out there to play around with. In this, I disagree. We know very little of our universe. We know very little of our bodies. We know very little of our minds. We know very little of one another. We know very little of ourselves.

What if I don’t like you, and that dislike is based on a projection that has nothing to do with who you really are as a human being? What if I am mired in thoughts and beliefs about the nature of the universe that truly have very little to do with what is actually going on?

What if I woke up tomorrow morning and everything I once knew was no longer in my head? Would I relearn the universe in exactly the same way that I had before, or would my filters and experiences be so different that everything seemed entirely different than what I knew before?

Here’s the beauty that I see in “what if.” These two simple words can cause us to question what we think we know and lead us to new information and new ways of looking at things that may just open up a whole new world.