Einstein is quoted as saying something along the lines of "Imagination is more important than knowledge". I'll take this a step further and say that imagination coupled with action is even more important. And maybe with some willingness to be daring sprinkled in, too.
I would say that 95% of my time, when I'm not asleep or dealing with an 18-month-old or staring blankly at a wall because I'm 38-weeks pregnant and my mind is dysfunctional, I am immersed in imagination. Whether this is due to me actually having good ideas, or to the fact that my job is so far from imaginative that if I wasn't inventing in my mind, I would go nuts. Arrogant, maybe, but I feel like I have an endless list of good ideas that range from photography projects to data collection in developing countries. So my problem, is not for want of imagination.
It's the action part that always trips me up.

Am I lazy? Discouraged? Not in touch with the right people?

Worse, am I not as imaginative as I think?

I think, when it comes down to it, I really need some encouragement, and without it, I let my ideas fall away. Imagination - or intellectual curiosity - is not exactly encouraged by my *tier* of employee. While I may be a loud mouth and bring up ideas about different ventures at work, it's pretty clear that no one takes me seriously, and thus the discouragement. Furthermore, it seems like a lot of academics, people who are supposed to be immersed in the world of imagination, are stagnating through recycled ideas and redundant research....at least where I am.

I'm in search of a bold, crazy, gregarious mentor who would be willing to take intellectual risks with me. But people (including me) are worried about their bottom line - keeping financially stable for family and lifestyle.

Aside from feeling uninspired and - with almost 2 children - afraid to take too drastic of a risk - my other problem is follow-through. I would be great in a think-tank. I'm an ideas person. The details, not so interested in. I like to ask questions, not to necessarily answer them. Or, I should write, I'm not interested in the tedious part that comes along with answering questions. I like the end product and knowing the answers, but getting there, I can leave for someone else.

An article I read the other day talked about how US students have consistently done worse on standardized tests compared to so many other countries. Knowledge. These other students have knowledge. But what about imagination? Imagination is not valued in a lot of these high performing places. And despite the fact that we in the US apparently suck at math and science, we seem to have a monopoly on the imagination market. And this, many people, feel is why the US continues to be a global leader in business, etc. We think of the cool ideas and gadgets, etc, but we're leave it to someone else to operationalize because they'll do it better anyway...they have more specific knowledge.

Off I go to dream about things that maybe some day someone will listen to.