It is quite amazing how hard the subconscious works when it is

“It is quite amazing how hard the subconscious works when it is made to understand that this life is not a rehearsal, there is no safety net and no assurance of any final closure. It is also quite appalling to realize how catatonic the imagination can become when we hedge our bets, opt for the safer direction at every fork in the path,” wrote John Burdett, the British novelist and former lawyer whose stories often probe the strange currents of the human soul. In this profound reflection, Burdett speaks not only of creativity, but of life itself — the raw, unrepeatable adventure that demands courage, urgency, and imagination. He reminds us that life is not a rehearsal, not a prelude to some future perfection, but the one performance we are given. And when we finally awaken to that truth, the hidden powers of our subconscious and imagination rise up to meet the challenge of living fully.

The subconscious, that mysterious undercurrent of the human mind, is the seat of both fear and inspiration. Burdett observes that it comes alive when it realizes that the stage is real — that the stakes are final. When we grasp, in our depths, that this life will not come again, something fierce and luminous awakens in us. Imagination, once dormant, becomes a fire. Courage, once theoretical, becomes necessity. We begin to create, to risk, to speak with the full voice of being. For the subconscious does not stir for half-measures; it responds only to truth — and the greatest truth is that life offers no guarantees, only the chance to live.

Burdett’s words are born of modern disillusionment — a time when comfort has replaced wonder, and safety has become the idol of the age. Too many, he warns, hedge their bets, taking the safe path at every turn, fearing loss more than desiring greatness. And yet, such caution, though it preserves the body, paralyzes the spirit. The imagination, when fenced in by fear, grows catatonic — a word he chooses with purpose, evoking the lifeless stillness of a body cut off from its soul. A man may live long by choosing safety, but his inner world may die long before his heart does.

Consider the story of Christopher Columbus, who set sail upon an ocean that had no map. His decision was not safe; it was madness by the measures of his age. Yet because he refused to hedge his bets, because he accepted that there was no safety net, his imagination achieved what centuries of careful men had not — the crossing of an unknown world. The subconscious, when faced with peril, summoned from him vision, will, and endurance. His voyage mirrors what Burdett describes: that when we accept life as final, we awaken the hidden engines of our potential. Safety may guard the body, but it is risk that enlarges the soul.

Yet Burdett’s insight is not a call to recklessness, but to authentic awareness. To live as if life were a rehearsal is to postpone being alive; to live as if each day were final is to bring all one’s powers to bear upon the present moment. The subconscious, when it understands that there will be no second chance, becomes a loyal ally. It begins to work tirelessly in our favor, drawing from the deep wells of intuition, memory, and imagination to help us fulfill our purpose. It is as though the universe itself conspires to assist those who truly commit. But those who live half-heartedly, always choosing the safer direction, find their minds dull, their dreams silent, their imagination asleep.

The ancients knew this truth well. The Spartans, trained from youth to confront fear without flinching, understood that there was no rehearsal for battle — that each moment might be their last. This knowledge did not cripple them; it sharpened their minds and hardened their resolve. Similarly, the artists and prophets of every age have thrived under the knowledge of mortality. Michelangelo, knowing the limits of his years, carved eternity into stone. Beethoven, deaf and despairing, still wrote symphonies that outlived him. Their subconscious labored with divine fury precisely because they accepted the urgency of life.

So let this be the teaching: Do not live as if you will have another chance. This moment is your only stage, your only script. Do not wait for permission, or for perfection, or for safety — for none of these exist outside the imagination’s prison. Instead, awaken the imagination that sleeps within you. Let the knowledge of life’s fragility ignite your courage rather than smother it. Choose the uncertain path when it calls to your heart; speak the truth even when silence is easier; dare to create though failure looms. For as Burdett teaches, when we abandon the illusion of safety, the subconscious rises, and life itself begins to burn with meaning.

And remember this, children of tomorrow: comfort is the enemy of greatness. The one who always takes the safer road will never know the vastness of his own soul. But the one who steps into the unknown — without assurance, without rehearsal — discovers the immortal secret: that the imagination, once awakened, can conquer any fear, and that to live fully, one must dare to live dangerously alive.