Does Visualization Help?

Does visualization actually work? Does it do anything? I feel like I’ve heard a lot about how manifestation and visualization are techniques that can help a lot. At least, they’re very trendy on instagram and tiktok right now. But do these things actually help? Truth be told, I’ve always been kind of skeptical of manifestation and visualization. In general I have taken the stance that the best (and only) way to make what you want happen is by putting your head down and working hard. My views on that have changed, recently.

I still think working hard is important, but I no longer completely discount visualization. There’s a few reasons for that. First of all, I realized that I have actually been practicing visualization techniques on a low level my whole life without meaning to. In fact, I now think everyone does. Maybe not actively, but we all think about the kind of future we want, right?

I’m not an expert in manifestation or visualization by any means, but I think that thinking about what we want is, at some low level, doing the same thing as those practices. If you cannot picture what you want in the future then you can’t work toward it. Thinking about what you want is the first step to working toward it. The mind is the first place where the process begins.

I also think that repeatedly picturing in our mind what we want is motivational to some extent. When used correctly it can be helpful.

For example, I struggle a lot with getting out of bed if I don’t have a hard deadline. My bed is very warm and my room is very dark and it’s so easy to push things off until later and sleep in longer. However, if I’m laying in bed thinking that I should get up but I don’t really want to then visualization is one of the best things I can do for myself. If I am laying in bed and start to picture how my day is going to go then it’s a lot easier for me to actually get up and start my day.

Another case where this seems to help is my education. Sometimes it can be really challenging to feel motivated. Learning remotely through the pandemic only enhanced that challenge. However, visualizing where I want my degree to take me makes it a lot easier to complete those assignments that I don’t want to do.

So, does visualization help?

I think so. I don’t think that you can will something into existence. However, visualizing the future that you want can be motivating enough to actually do the work that will get you there.

Overwhelm

Have you found that everything gets a little overwhelming a little faster now? Because that’s definitely how I feel. Since the pandemic began, almost a year ago now, everything seems to happen a little too much a little too fast. It’s probably because I’m at home all the time and it’s easy for all the days to meld together. I’m no longer used to the day to day strain of life in the way I was before.

Which is weird when I think about it, because life is as stressful as it was before. Actually, probably more stressful. Professor’s are making the work load heavier now that everyone is at home all the time, I still have a job, there’s relationship strain. Plus, being cooped up all the time isn’t helping.

And honestly? I don’t think I’m coping with it all very well.

The littlest things seem to set me off these days. I have to keep my phone on silent because notifications when I’m in the middle of something feel too stressful. Is that silly? Maybe. But it’s what I’ve got to do.

The other day was a great example; My boss called me five times to deal with little things that he could’ve sent in an email, I had lectures for five hours, reading to do, assignments to do, applications to fill out, errands to run. It was all way too much. Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed now, but my mom asked me how I was doing and I burst into tears on the spot.

But I did get through it. I turned off my phone, I went for a run, and then I made dinner. After dinner was made and eaten I made a very basic list of what I had left to do that night. It looked like this:

• Do work stuff
• Do school stuff
• Answer friends
• Shower
• Go. To. bed.

Very basic. I didn’t go into the details of what I had to do until I got to that step. I didn’t worry about the school stuff while I was doing the work stuff, I just did the work stuff. And I didn’t turn on my phone again until that list was made.

It actually really helped a lot.

There are two lessons to be had here:

1. Lists, even short ones, are the best thing in the world. As basic as they are sometimes, they really are one of the best ways to organize.
2. Phones are a huge source of anxiety sometimes. Now that I’m at home all the time I’m on my phone more than ever. In some ways this is good. I get to keep in touch with my friends. In other ways, this is bad and very stressful and overwhelming.

I’m sure there are other lessons to be had here, but those are my two big takeaways.

So now I’m going to make basic lists at the start of every day. Worry about the details later. And I’m going to turn off my phone more often.

If you have better ways to deal with overwhelm please feel free to drop them in the comments. And if you’re feelings this way too, know you’re not alone.

A New Semester, a New Plan

To be honest, I was really bummed out most of last semester. First of all, I got broken up with the day before classes started which set a bad tone. But I was also not exactly hyped for online learning. Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT miss commuting to campus every day. But I DO miss being on campus. I didn’t realize how much I loved studying in the library with my friends until I couldn’t do it anymore. And now that all my classes are online it feels like every day is blurring together.

But I’m a little more excited about this semester.

First of all, I’m taking some really cool classes. Most of them are out of my comfort range, which is terrifying and exciting at the same time. But starting next year I’ll be working on my honours thesis so I’ll mostly be studying stuff in my area of interest and comfort anyways. This is a great semester to break out of my shell a little bit.

I also made sure to take classes with friends in them. Of course I won’t actually be seeing my friends, but there’s still some comradery and solidarity in taking the same class. At least we can discuss the material together.

Thirdly, and I think this is the big one, I planned ahead of time. I’ve made a mini schedule for myself.

Now, I know that chances are high that I’ll break from this schedule by mid semester. Things always pop up, or the work takes longer than anticipated. But I know what to expect and each week I’ll know what’s coming.

I’ve also found that actively trying to make each day different helps me remember that time is passing. Last semester it was too easy to fall behind because each day felt the same, so I almost forgot that time was passing by. And before I knew it deadlines were approaching.

The last few weeks, however, I’ve made an active effort to make sundays a catch up day. I clean, I stretch, I meal plan, I watch TV or read and take a rest. I try to do as little work as possible. And that makes such a difference. I know sundays are different and I know how many days there are until sunday. So now I remember time is passing and I should make the most of it.

Self Research

My historiography professor asked us if it is possible to ever write a single definitive history. History is the practice of putting events into context, of giving meaning to the past. It is not simply a recitation of facts. There is always a bias (which isn’t a bad thing!) and even if two historians examine the same set of events they will produce two different writings; they won’t reach the same conclusions. Does that mean one of them is wrong? No. Assuming they did their research, read sources thoroughly, and are not straight up fabricating or altering facts, neither of them is necessarily wrong. Is it possible to produce a false narrative for personal gain? Certainly. We see this all the time in dictatorships, and even true facts can be used for propaganda. But let’s simply set aside completely false narratives and simply focus on different perspectives, different perceptions from different people.

So, no. I don’t think it’s possible to ever write a single definitive history. In fact, good historians change their minds all the time! I recently wrote a review of a book, and in one chapter the author primarily engaged with his own past works, acknowledged where he now thought he was wrong, used new evidence to alter his argument, and admitted to his mistakes. That happens over time! New evidence comes up that changes our perception of life.

That doesn’t just happen in academic fields either. Personal understanding of your past can change. Something you viewed with a rose coloured lens can become soured in hindsight. Or something that felt truly awful, terrible, unrecoverable, can become more positive with a little time and retrospection.

Does that mean that past you was wrong? Or that present you is wrong? No. Not at all.

If you were happy in the past that was your truth then. If a little hindsight makes you now feel that striving to get back there isn’t right for you, that’s your truth now. The important thing is that you find and acknowledge your truth and stick to it. Be honest with yourself, as hard as that can be.

What if you don’t know your truth yet?

Well, that’s okay too.

This happens all the time in the practice of history as well. I begin every new research project with a little bit of panic. I don’t know where to start or what I think. But I simply start reading. I gather a few random books that are loosely related to the topic and begin gathering information. Eventually I start to get some context, start to subconsciously put pieces together, start to understand things a little better. Do I have a solid topic yet? No.

The best feeling is that “Aha” moment. At this point not everything is perfect but a few more pieces fall into place and suddenly I have a direction. Suddenly it’s easier to understand what I’m reading and I know where to go, what sources to search for, even if I don’t know everything yet.

I think it’s the same in finding your truth or understanding your feelings. If you feel lost then just begin. You don’t have to know everything about yourself. Just pick a direction and try to find your deeper inner self. Try meditation. Not your thing? Fine, try reading self help books. Not your thing? Okay, go to the gym. Not your thing? Fine, try something else.

Research is a process. It’s not linear. It can actually be really frustrating and difficult, but the Aha moment is so worth it.

Weekly Mantra: I choose to let go

I have really been working on catching myself overthinking, over worrying, and hyper-fixating on thoughts that are not useful to me. It’s a subconscious thing, so I don’t ALWAYS catch it, but now when I do I try to replace that habit with something more useful to me. I’ve been trying out repeating mantras in time with my breath for a minute, and so far it seems to be working. So it goes a little like this:

*breathe in* I choose

*breathe out* to let go

There’s a lot of things I need to practice letting go of. I’m not very good at it yet. It’s easy to focus on something and overthink it and blow it out of proportion. It’s much harder to move your energy to something else and actively try to stop hyper-fixating on things. But it’s worth practicing. I think it will help my mental well being a lot.

What I really need to let go of is assigning morality to the ebb and flow of my feelings. It’s not that I intentionally do it, but like I’ve said before, the language we use is very powerful no matter how subtle. I caught myself doing it last night. I had entered a stage of loneliness and sadness after several days of feeling alright, and I described it as “going bad after several days of being good”. But there is nothing inherently bad with sadness. It simply is. So instead, this week I’m going to simply try to sit with this feelings. And then breathe in, breathe out, and move on with my day.