Visualization and Racism

Hi there, So I had done a vlog on visualization and racism on June 22, 2020.  When I went back to find it recently, I realized it disappeared.  So here it is again. Click here for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEUofvVFYUY&t=53s In this vlog, I talk about visualization as a self-care tool.  This is part of my self-care series.  I'm going to apply it to visualizing a world where there is not just equity, but there is freedom and liberation from systemic racism. Are you familiar with The Secret?  If you've read the book or seen the movie, it is a matter of visualizing what you want in life, and your unconsciousness then works towards it.  It is important to articulate it and visualize it in a positive way, so not saying what you don't want, but rather saying what you do want.  For example, if I were to say don't think of a purple elephant, you are inevitably going to think of a purple elephant anyway.  So instead of doing that, telling yourself what you want to picture instead, like a blue rhinoceros.  The unconscious doesn't understand negatives.  So tell it what you do want. This visualization helps us to achieve our goals.  My belief as a Christian counsellor is that God is the ultimate judge about what is granted and the timing of it, but if we ask in prayer and visualize in faith, then we will receive it (Matthew 21:21-22).  If it is good for us, we will receive it in God's perfect timing. You can also use a vision board to further help the unconscious mind visualize what you want.  The unconsciousness responds well to pictures.  I like to do my vision board annually, based on my wellness wheel (financial, spiritual, physical, emotional, social, vocational, sexual, environmental). As Interim President with OAMFT, I was asked to write a statement on racial discrimination, given the murder of George Floyd.  I was thinking about what to write, I found myself teary.  It made me think of my own son who is mixed-black.  No one is lesser than.  No life is worth less than someone else’s.  No one should be pre-judged based on the colour of their skin.  Yet it happens.  Every day.  It is not only in Minneapolis with George Floyd.  It happens in our very own community.  As the mother of a mixed-black boy, I am concerned for his future and ever being mistreated or misjudged based solely on appearance.  I fear that it is only a matter of “when” not “if” this would happen to him.  This is concerning and saddening to me, and greatly disappointed in our society.   For his sake and the sake of all people of colour, we need to take a stand.  I love that we live in this wonderfully diverse city of Toronto, but I am not ignorant to the fact that racism exists here in our own backyard.  We are on a verge of a revolution, and I am so proud and touched by the protesters that have taken to the street in the middle of a pandemic, no less, to make a statement.  A bold statement.  Yet again.  It's sad it's taking so long to make these basic societal changes to treat each other with respect and dignity.  The statement that is being made now says “We will not put up with this systemic racism anymore”.  And we shouldn’t.  We mustn’t.  There is inequality in every single system, whether it be education, judicial or vocational.  We can be polite, but racism is still there.  It can be subtle, but it is still there. This hurts my heart.  It's close to home.  Change needs to happen.  Change can come from one conversation.  It can come from unlearning what we have learned in the most subtle of ways.  It can come from speaking out against microaggressions.  It can come from policy changes.  It can come from being proactive and preventative with increased funding for mental health and addictions services.  That means reversing the cut-backs that we have seen over recent years.  I’m not typically outspoken about political things, but this really does come down to voting.  So be sure to vote, and have your voice heard. As a premarital counsellor, I love doing that kind of premarital work because it is proactive and preventative.  In the same vein, having programs for mental health, addictions, youth programs, and poverty prevention is preventative and helps towards achieving greater equity. To refer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, I also have a dream that in our society everyone would be treated equivalently.  Not necessarily equally, but equivalently, and work towards societal change.   Coming back to visualization, I would like to visualize a world in which my son is always treated fairly, that he is celebrated for who he is and judged as a person only based on his heart and who he is on the inside - as a precious gift from God.  I visualize a world where police are there to help, where basic needs are met and there is abundance.  I visualize a world where we love and support each other.  A world where we care for each other.  Where we value each other and appreciate each other.    Thank-you and Be Well, Melissa