Visualizing
By Suebee
@Suebee (2013)
Canada
May 29, 2012 11:30am CST
This is something that has been bothering me for a while now. I seem to be in the low percentage of people who can't form a mental image in my mind, or visualize. Maybe I'm just not understanding it properly. When someone says "picture this" or "I can just picture it now" do they mean that you get an actual picture in your mind? If you close your eyes do you actually SEE a picture or are you just thinking about it in words? I can think about something in words, but as far as an actual picture that I can see forming in my mind, it just doesn't happen.
For example someone could say picture yourself in a brand new car. I can THINK, with words about a new car, can describe it in my thoughts with words, i.e. a black, convertible mustang, but I don't actually SEE a picture of it in my mind. Do other people see a picture or just describe it in words in their minds like I do?
7 responses
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
29 May 12
Some people can visualize very well, while others are like you. Its more of an unconccious thing really. Its not something your going to see with your eyes, but its more like a memory when you do it. If I were to say think of a cold glass of water. You might remember a clear glass with condensation built up on it, filled with ice cubes and cold water that you would love to drink.
1 person likes this
@PhillyDreamer (3039)
• United States
29 May 12
LOL. I was trying to help you see it. Yes you can see it like a picture imbedded into your brain. It may just be you are a more verbal person, but when you use words to see the item can you see the words in your head?
1 person likes this
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
29 May 12
No, I don't see the words in my head. I just describe it to myself. Maybe you are right and I'm just more verbal than visual. For example, people say "close your eyes and picture it". Well, I close my eyes and I can't actually see a picture, just darkness. Do some people actually see a picture, like on a movie screen or is it just words in their mind.
My oldest son once told me that he could "live in his head" meaning that he could actually see and visualize anything. I can't do that. Can most people or are most people like me?
@allknowing (136369)
• India
30 May 12
Ofcourse I can. If someone says picture yourself on the beach. I surely will imagine me on the beach with high or low tide, with women wearing bikinis walking hand in hand with their lovers or eating ice cream, or kids playing ball, some swimming and me with a group of friends sitting down and watching the sunset. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (136369)
• India
31 May 12
What if you are asked to paint the scene? How will you do it if you cannot visualise it? I want you to paint say a rainbow. Can you do it?
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
30 May 12
Well, it's not that I can't imagine things. I can imagine myself on a beach as well, in Cuba (where I went for my honeymoon, lol), white sand for miles, not a crowded beach but a few people, trees here and there, little shade huts, the ocean, waves, the sound of the waves etc but I imagine it with descriptive words, not actually SEEING a picture of it in my mind. I am beginning to understand that there are some people who actually see a picture in their mind, like on a TV screen and there are others like me who don't actually SEE a picture but imagine things more in terms of descriptive words.
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
31 May 12
Yes I can paint a rainbow (although I'm not a very good artist, lol). But that's not what I mean. What I am asking is do some people actually see what they are imagining, as if they are looking at a tv screen or a photo, or do they just know what it looks like from memory and descriptive words. When I close my eyes I SEE black, I presume it is the inside of my eyelids. Do you SEE the same thing or do you actually SEE an image?
From what I am able to learn through this discussion and a website that I found, some people can actually SEE a picture, while others are like me. I can imagine it, through descriptive words, memory whatever but I cannot actually SEE it. For example if you imagine the colour pink, does the black of your eyelids turn into pink for you to actually SEE or do you just know what the colour pink is.
My son says he actually sees a mental image. He describes it as he can "live in his own head".
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
29 May 12
Visualization to me is not mere picturizing the scenario... I mean how can I visualize say pasta when I havent seen it ever - not even a pic of that item! I think when people say to visualize, yes, many a times we can try sketching the things in the mind, but there are other things which cannot be picturized...say ultraviolet red? or even ultrasound?
I think these visualizations refer to trying to put or understand what we have learned from the experience or books.
Someone asked me to visualize a tumor in the brain! Now if I havent seen anything like that earlier or even havent heard anything about it... So I open up my mind, try to recall what it was when I read about illnesses or even the brain, and then try to relate what that tumor can be or even where that tumor can be.
Great discussion and I would keep it under watch to find out what the lotters say on this "Visualization" thing
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
30 May 12
OK! That's what I wanted to know,is if people actually do SEE the image. I asked my husband the same question and he cannot see the image either. He "sees" the same thing I do...darkness, sometimes with a bit of lighter coloured streaks, the inside of his eyelids. I then did a search and found a site where someone was saying the same thing as me. That they don't actually see the image. So I guess some people can and some people can't.
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
30 May 12
But if you have seen the object or a picture of it, can you close your eyes and actually SEE a picture of it in your mind? For example if I asked you to close your eyes and picture the colour pink, would you actually SEE pink when you closed your eyes or would you just see nothing, darkness, the inside of your eyelids and just know what the colour pink looks like without actually getting a visual image of it?
@whatrow (792)
• United States
7 Jun 12
I have the same problem. I do affirmation exercises every day. They are positive statements about the things I want. As part of the exercise, I need to visualize, or SEE myself as successful in getting what I want. For example, if I want a new piece of furniture, I have to actually SEE that piece of furniture and SEE it in my room.
The fact that I cannot do that is, in my case, an indication that I resist changing my life in a way which will lead to getting that object. Or, maybe I don't really want it.
Visualization is usually a question of practice. Start off easy. Visualize a color, like red. A dark red. To help you, you might think of an actual object that is that color. At first the image will be faded. But the longer you focus on the image, the sharper it will be in your mind. Good luck.
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
8 Jun 12
Actually, I have tried that by trying to see the colour pink, or sometimes I use purple. With your encouragement I am going to continue to practice in hopes that one day I can actually see it.
I know exactly what you mean by positive thinking and visualizing. I've read a lot of books on the subject and they all say the same thing--picture it, picture yourself in that new car or house or with the new furniture. That's where the problem comes for me. I can think of it, I can imagine it in words but I cannot actually picture it.
It's more practice for me I guess.
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
29 May 12
I’m not an expert at this but going to assume that the two processes are good ones so not having one may not be such a bad thing, in fact there is something to be said for thinking solely with words. It is more disciplined I think and much more creative when it comes to descriptive prose.
If you lie back on a summer day on the grass and watch the fluffy clouds make changing shapes that might be comparable I suppose to visualization. People with too strong of an imagination might have more trouble concentrating.
1 person likes this
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
30 May 12
I do have dreams but they are rare. Or maybe I should say it is rare that I remember them. And yes, I agree, dreaming is a form of visualizing. Thank you for pointing that out to me. So I am capable of getting a mental image, I think I just have to practice at it.
@troublee (98)
• India
30 May 12
Oh! i am very sorry about your condition. Actually when some one ask me to imagine a blue rose, i can actually see it in my mind. I think, when someone told us to imagine something we are actually recollecting it from our memory with certain modification. I can't belive that you can't visualize a thing.
@Suebee (2013)
• Canada
30 May 12
I looked it up on the net and found a site on it. Apparently there are lots of people like me who don't produce a mental image that they can actually see. My husband doesn't actually SEE things either. We can imagine them, know what they look like, describe them in words, but don't actually SEE them in our minds.
@ONLYHOPE (189)
• Philippines
29 May 12
hai
They are commonly used "picture it" (in your mind),when they want you to see or describe what they want you to "picture". some are like you, some have strong imagination, and I'm one of that,just like when reading a pocket book, the places,and events that are indicated there I feel that I'm part of the story, I can see what is happening I can see the characters,I can feel what the story emphasizes. And sometimes when we're alone and dreaming for the future and for the things you want for, sometimes we are talking to our selves, I want a simple house, with music room, study room,with private recreational room, with wide surroundings that with organized different kinds of plants and tree fruits, it just simple can you picture it my friend it's very simple isn't it ..LOL..
Anyway,have a nice day
