Floating Bridges

I love imagination.
It spans fast.
From here to there.
From what is to what could be.
From a pile of parts to something that feels inevitable.
That’s its gift.
It builds bridges before the ground agrees.
I’ve lived there.
Big ideas.
Clean possibilities.
Elegant futures.
A bridge in my mind, suspended over the gap.
The trouble is, some bridges float.
They look real enough from a distance.
Until I try to carry weight across them.
Resources are what keep that from happening.
Time.
Energy.
Attention.
Tools.
People willing to help hold the thing in place.
Without them, imagination drifts.
Without imagination, resources sit there like stacked lumber in the rain.
Useful.
Heavy.
Going nowhere.
That’s the paradox.
Imagination reaches.
Resources ground.
One spans the distance.
The other bears the load.
I don’t need less imagination.
I need anchors.
I don’t need more resources.
I need a bridge worth fixing them to.
The work is not dreaming or stockpiling.
It’s fastening vision to reality
strongly enough that something can cross.
Otherwise I’m left with floating bridges.
Beautiful to look at.
Impossible to walk on.