When a colleague asked peace scholar Michael Nagler what violence is, he had a thought-provoking response: it's a “failure of imagination.” This statement flips the traditional view of violence on its head and urges us to reconsider the true nature of nonviolence as a dynamic force that inspires change. Nagler builds on Gandhi’s transformative moment at a South African train station, using it to demonstrate how anger can actually fuel creativity instead of chaos.

Instead of seeing nonviolence as merely the absence of violence, Nagler frames it as a positive power that provides the potential for growth and resolution. He points out that history often overlooks the countless conflicts that resolve quietly through love and understanding every day, which begs the question: what if we all focused on that instead? Imagine what the world could look like if we channeled our frustrations into constructive pathways. Sometimes, it just takes a little imagination!