🩺 Courage in Imagination
Reflections on The Night Nurse and The Jewel Thief by Marilee Dahlman
Over the ice-blue doorway of billionaire Gnut Berdqvist’s mansion are the words: “Courage in Imagination.”
It’s Gnut’s motto—but honestly, it sounds like doctor’s orders for these modern times.
In The Night Nurse and The Jewel Thief, when everything is collapsing—floods, thieves, sapphires, and a cat in peril—what keeps night nurse Nancy fighting is her ability to imagine something different. An escape. A victory. Flashes of whimsy in the middle of fear.
Imagination, as it turns out, is a kind of medicine. It helps us see not just what is, but what could be—and sometimes, that’s enough to survive a nutty night shift.
“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”
— William Blake
Even if you’re not battling jewel thieves or caring for billionaires with questionable coolant devices, imagination still matters. Research shows that robust daydreaming is linked to higher intelligence (Psychology Today) and that playfulness is biologically hard-wired to help mammals (yes, including us) experiment, collaborate, and de-stress (Newsweek).
In short: play is practice. And imagination is survival training.
So maybe Nancy’s eccentric billionaire patient Gnut has it right—whoever you are, whatever you’re doing, have Courage in Imagination.
(And maybe a spare sapphire, just in case.)
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
— Albert Einstein
📚 Book Club Note
And since nothing sparks imagination quite like space, a friendly book club I’m part of here in DC just finished Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid—a fictional take on women astronauts in 1980s NASA. It prompted strong opinions, lively debate, and at least one impassioned defense of Tang. (Just kidding on the last one). Highly recommend adding it to your own club’s orbit. 🚀
💬 Call to Readers
How do you keep your imagination alive when life feels like a collapsing mansion? Drop your answer in the comments—I’d love to see how others find courage in imagination.
great words! needed to read them today.