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Imagination: the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful.

Imagination is quite possibly a uniquely human ability. In essence, it allows us to explore ideas of things that are not in our present environment, or perhaps not even real.

Visualization: the formation of a mental image of something.

Visualization is simply a mental rehearsal. You create images in your mind of having or doing whatever it is that you want.

Collective consciousness or collective conscience (French: conscience collective) is the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.

For a good example of the collective consciousness check out: “The hundredth monkey effect” by Ken Keyes Jr.

Imagination or visualisation what’s the difference?  If you are like me, and have been reading books and playing movies in your head since you were a child, it is hard to tell the difference between the two.  Imagination for me is a fun way to pass the time, I can remember some of the adventures that I acted out during childhood. As an adult I still love reading books and watch movies, I still enjoy the escape it provides me.  I don’t believe I could be as creative if I lacked imagination. It is fun to imagine myself doing the things I love to do as it brings me joy. The more I expand my personal growth the more I start seeing what I really want.  Although my imagination is not showing me the way to accomplish those goals. My ears have been picking up the words visualisation and law of attraction a lot lately. My personal experience with the law of attraction is that I experimented not knowing that it existed and was able to reap its rewards.  It does work if you don’t block your own path. A good example of of a dream come true: as a teenager I had the strong desire to move to the US to learn English, that thought occupied my mind constantly, I had no idea how I was going to get there but I was convinced that I would find a way to realise my dream.  Because of my focus on the end result, objects relating to my dream started to appear, a vinyl record of the group Alabama and two notebooks that had the word America printed on the front. I loved my pair of Levi’s jeans that I bought after saving my money, I dreamed about California. No matter what people said I was convinced that I was going to get there.  I was lucky that my parents were never part of the naysayer crowd, in fact my mom is the one who saw the add in our paper about the need for a French speaking nanny in Washington DC. I interviewed locally with a friend of the family and later on the phone with the parents of the child. I got the job and flew off to the United States. My youngest daughter has done the reverse, she dreamed of studying acting in Paris, I was able to help her find the school, she did the rest.  In the last few years she surrounded herself by things that represented Paris, she created her own world, nobody around her discouraged her from her goal, the opposite in fact.

After spending years raising my children I find myself free to follow other dreams that I had put on the back burner.  I alone am responsible for ignoring them, I don’t know why I let them sleep for so long. Lately I feel a wind that is rejuvenating and reenergizing me, I have found a new inner purpose et new objectives for my future which will include the things I love to do which include travel, writing and photographing.   I had been wanting to watch “The Secret” for quite a while, the opportunity presented itself last night. I decided I needed a break from writing and turned on Netflix, after scrolling past lots of things I was not in the mood to watch, The Secret just appeared in front of me, another prayer answered from the universe.  The movie emphasizes the importance of visualization, to see yourself in the desired situation and to believe in your heart that it is actually possible. I have started to take steps to improve my outlook in life and my quality of life. The Law of Attraction is often explained by the use of our collective conscience and connectivity.  I love the idea that by being happy and positive and joining my feelings with others who are on the same wavelength I can help make the world a better place. I have chosen the things that are important to me. I see myself happy surrounded by my happy extended family in places I want to visit. Happiness has a lot of power, it makes feel me conscious of who I am, of what I have and grateful for it, because of it I appreciate my life more.  It is pushing me to reach out, smile and talk to friends and strangers.

The new year has just started, it is the perfect time to redefine how I want to live by using my imagination and visualization to practice what I am writing about.  It is often easy to let the outside world intrude into our daily lives, to bring us down to levels that are not useful to anybody, it is better to be an uplifter then a downer, an optimist instead of a pessimist, the choice is ours.  It is not possible to be happy or satisfied all the time, having contrast between the two shows me what I am striving for and doesn’t allow me to wallow in sadness for very long as those sad feeling will make me lose my connection to the people around me and others.  I have decided that I will try my best through collective consciousness to give power to peace, kindness, love, and focus on people who deserve my attention. As a society we should focus on what we can bring to the world not on what is lacking or wrong with it, when we focus on the bad stuff and lack that is all we see.  The power of positive thinking can bring down walls and build communities. Let’s spread the light.

Have fun creating your visualization board!  I have had one in my head for a while, time to get to work by cutting and pasting pictures during these long winter evenings.  Time to create my own reality.