Is visualization bullshit? I couldn't tell you because I've never given it a chance. Let's ask Nick Cave!
I’m home for a week after surgery. Though I'm on the mend, the anesthesia is wearing off much more slowly than I would like. My big staycation activities are being put aside for slower and quieter experiences.
Like all of us I have been wrestling with my relationship to social media and how much time I want to spend looking at the lives of others when doing so often postpones my own living. It is tougher to limit that time when you are trying to heal.
Using a timer helps a lot -- when I remember to use one. I’ve recently given myself permission to dig into long reads online rather than short blurbs. One way of doing this is by engaging with the old school method of subscribing to newsletters of people who hold my interest.
The one I took great pleasure in today is Nick Cave’s The Red Hand Files Issue #40. In this issue, he gives break up recovery advice to a fan. The advice is so lovely and so personal. Cave encourages the fan to use visualization as the tool for moving on.
"Imagine a shimmering golden cord that attaches you to the memory of this relationship. Really imagine it.
In your mind, speak down the cord to the other person in the relationship, and despite what a douche-bag this person may have been, wish them well. Say -
May you be happy on your journey wherever it may lead."
I've always brushed aside visualization because I didn't think it was cool. But the truth is I never thought I could sustain a positive image about my future for more than a few seconds.
With all my online reading, the subject of visualization has come up a lot recently.
This article from Sane Box sparked my curiosity even more.
I've got a lot of quite time this weekend and I've developed a fairly consistent meditation practice. I'd like to do visualizations that focus on my artistic work. I think I'll give the shimmering golden cord a try.
Here's the full text of Cave's advice: