I have long believed that my greatest quality as a person is my imagination. In fact I believe it is one of the most powerful abilities that we, as humans, have at our disposal in this world.

This may seem easy for me to say, given that imagination is at the heart of what I do. Design, illustration and storytelling all require copious amounts of creative thinking. But as I look beyond my industry I can easily argue that imagination is a source of inspiration and innovation in most fields. More and more we are seeing the inclusion of imaginative and creative processes being absorbed by other domains as a means of developing new products, processes and strategies. Terms like "design thinking" and "creative culture" have become very commonplace in a wide array of industries, and while you might argue with the terms being chosen, the underlying ideas are the same.

This is not new. Going back to the early days of this country, indeed the early days of civilization as a whole, we can see evidence of imagination at work. The examples are too many to list comprehensively, but images of the Pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China and the light bulb are the first to my mind. And to say that imagination had no part in the creation of these artifacts is to misunderstand a fundamental part of how we think and solve problems.

Growing up, most of my time was spent in imaginary worlds. I was always creating new stories and taking part in new adventures. This took many forms, everything from playing with my He-Man toys in the sandbox and trying to reclaim Castle Grayskull for the forces of good (usually from the evil G.I. Joe characters for some reason) to writing a campaign for me and my friends to play through using tabletop RPGs.

In addition to the creative skills that I developed, and much to the disbelief of my friends and family, I have long attributed many of my cognitive and social skills to those early days as a child exploring the boundaries of reality. I have always felt it was such an important part of what made me who I am, and allowed me to develop the capacity for critical thinking and complex social interaction.

Historically, these activities were dismissed as "play" or escapism and branded superfluous. Fortunately, more and more research is coming out that supports the use of imagination as a positive part of early childhood development. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discussed the importance of the imagination not only in play, but in developing a fundamental grasp on reality.

"For years, imagination was thought of as a way for children to escape from reality, and once they reached a certain age, it was believed they would push fantasy aside and deal with the real world. But, increasingly, child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality. Imagination is necessary for learning about people and events we don't directly experience, such as history or events on the other side of the world. For young kids, it allows them to ponder the future, such as what they want to do when they grow up."

Imagination has long been shackled to "play", the childhood activity that is frowned upon or redefined once we reach adulthood. But I think we are missing the larger picture when we limit our understanding and acceptance of imaginative and creative activities to this definition. Imagination allows us as human beings to develop the cognitive and social skills necessary for daily life by providing a mental framework to better understand reality. This framework lets us explore what is real and what is not in a way that lets us adapt, cope and ideally excel in whatever path we choose to take in this world.

This is the true power of the imagination, and one that I wholeheartedly embrace. And as I head into the holidays filled with traditions based around imaginary tales and characters of all kinds I am reminded of just how powerful the imagination can be.