My maternal grandmother was a haughty woman. She carried herself as if she was of royal blood. So much so, she was referred to as “The Duchess”. I think she didn’t like children very much so our relationship was not a loving one and as a child I always felt she merely tolerated me.
Until I was thirteen, I accompanied my family on Sunday afternoon visits to her Brooklyn apartment she shared with her eldest son, my uncle Charlie. I don’t remember ever having a conversation with her and his interest in me was mostly about my academic studies that held little interest for me. They were extremely finicky about the condition of their home and I wasn’t allowed to sit on their furniture for fear I would mess it up.
So for three hours every Sunday I had to find ways to amuse myself in a very boring situation that brought me no joy at all. I found myself picturing me in other places. I transported myself to favorite locations. I saw myself running through a grassy, hilly countryside, free as a bird, unencumbered with social graces, soaring, flying and always joyful.
It was the beginning of an unconscious process that got me out of many scrapes and through many painful experiences. Without realizing it, I was learning the art of “visualization” a process that prepared me for my “waking up”.
In the seventies, in California, where the “self help” crowd was exploding with new ideas and experiments, “visualization” was emerging as a new way to experience “higher consciousness”. It was then that I realized and appreciated the subconscious work I had already done. There were workshops, seminars and books about the subject.
This method has been adopted by Medical Doctors and sports teams to encourage patients and athletes to visualize themselves as well and healthy, winning individually and in teams. It has become a very credible process.
Simply find a quiet place, a comfortable position, close your eyes, clear your mind and see yourself where you want to be, what you want to do and have. See it, feel it, taste it, smell it. Use all your senses until you actually experience the result you wish to produce. Then know it to be true. Open your eyes and hold on to the experience. Keep it with you. Then go out and make it happen just the way you visualized it.
Remember, you can make it up any way you want it to be. You do it anyway, so why not do it so the results you produce are magical.
