Benefits of Working Visually
Working visually is a powerful approach with many incredible benefits at the personal and professional levels.
WHY WORK VISUALLY?
A BIT OF SCIENCE
- Working visually is more about considering the functions of old vs. new brain rather than left vs. right brain. In a nutshell, the whole brain is always active. However, our visual system is located in the old brain, which helps us process abstract information concretely. Working visually has a direct practical impact on processing information.
- The vast majority of us have the capacity to experience, rely on, and use visual mental imagery. As such, working visually is innate and has the capacity to reach most of us.
- Imagery is a personal experience. Our capacity to see and create mental images is unique to each of us. As such, learning to work visually is a journey into our own subjectivity that can bring clarity not only to ourselves but also to our colleagues and enhance our self-awareness as well as our collaborative work.
- Our brains are symbol-making machines. The act of perceiving translates objects and scenes into symbols that our long-term memory stores. Working visually is the act of drawing out symbols to translate out into the open our very own unique brand of seeing.
- Last but not least, images have a visceral impact on us. Vision, emotion, and intuition are all located in the old brain, activating each other’s circuits. As a result, working visually stirs our emotions which can be credited for the greater impact of the work.
IT'S ALSO PERSONAL
Working visually is also an act of self-care for the following reasons:
- It helps challenge limiting beliefs you may have about your own capacity to create. You are born curious and creative. Reconnect with that state of being in the world.
- It helps foster focus, concentration, and mindfulness. It grounds us into the here and now. It’s a healthy practice.
- Imagination is the ultimate place of freedom. Your space, your work, your truth. And the best part is – we can all meet there. There is always a seat for you at this table.
- Working visually is a deliberate act of exploration and discovery into your own subjectivity. You can apply the insights you gain from this practice to your daily life and interactions.
A WORD ON CREATIVITY
For many of us, creativity is considered the territory of the artist. As such, it often appears out of reach, and can have a paralysing effect on us as adults. We may even say things like “I can’t draw, I’m not an artist”, or worse, “I can’t draw, I’m not creative”.
I think it’s important to ask ourselves what we mean by “creativity”, or what creativity means to us. We are all born creative, and our capacity to imagine is specific to us as human beings. We are wired to contribute ideas, solve problems, and create.
Here is what creativity means to me:
Creativity is personal power, unmitigated.
Creativity is innate to all of us. It is woven in the fabric of our being.
Creativity is a process. Some call it a dance.
Creativity is hands-on. To become manifest, it requires action.
Creativity is heart-based. To take creative action, we have to care.
Creativity is each of us: original, authentic, and expressed.
Creativity, then, is a game changer.
