Have you ever imagined something so vividly that it felt real? As a child, my imagination could make me feel awe—or send me into a spiral of fear.
I’ve been blessed—and cursed—with an active imagination. I think it may be one of my most powerful traits. As a young child, I would imagine eternity. The effect was an eruption of awe and nausea. After a few years, I stopped allowing myself to imagine it because the feelings were overwhelming.
Other times, I would create a panic in myself by imagining that the clank of a heater was a kidnapper climbing a ladder outside of my bedroom window or that some evil presence was about to burst into my basement. Or, full of enthusiasm, I would imagine myself pulling off new skateboard tricks on a halfpipe or owning my own ski resort.
I am well-acquainted with the trials and tribulations of an active imagination. As I’ve grown and gained more control over this faculty, I’ve begun to wonder if it is more than just a tool for fantasy or daydreaming. Perhaps it can transform us. What if the mind could become a place of soothing and healing?
The Immersive Power of Imagination
Unlike ordinary thought, which might analyze or recall, imagination has the power to immerse. It’s a way of living an experience in one’s mind.
Could it be possible to heal our inner wounds through this faculty? If emotional experiences wire the mind to expect the world a certain way, and we can create emotional experiences with our imagination, then can we use imagination to rewrite the patterns of fear, rejection, or despair that have shaped us?
How Core Beliefs Are Formed
In her book Learning Love, Attachment Theory expert Thais Gibson, PhD, states that “the subconscious mind [where one’s core beliefs are stored] is programmed through repetition and emotion. The relative proportions of these components affect the intensity of the program.”
In other words, our core beliefs about ourselves, about the world, about whether or not we will succeed in life, etc., become our core beliefs through repetitive emotional experiences.
For example, if I get bit by a dog, I will probably have a strong emotional reaction—I’ll be angry at the dog—but it probably won’t change my core beliefs. I probably won’t start believing, deep down, that dogs are evil or out to get me. However, if I get bit by dogs many times, and experience a strong emotional reaction each time, it’s very likely that those experiences will shape my deeply held beliefs about dogs. I will believe they often attack, that being around an unleashed dog is very dangerous, etc. On an even deeper level, I may start to believe things like, “I am unsafe when I leave my home.”
Core beliefs are tricky. A core belief isn’t just something I say out loud, like, “yeah, I’d agree with that.” Core beliefs run deep. They shape our perceptions, emotional responses, and behaviors. I might not even be thinking about a dog, but as soon as I sense one is near, my shoulders might tense and my heart might start beating faster. I may not even realize that the dog is the reason for it. That is the nature of core beliefs.
Rewriting Core Beliefs
But, according to Gibson, our core beliefs can be reprogrammed by repeatedly experiencing situations that disprove the belief, and the more emotional the experience is, the more impact it will have on the core belief. Research on neuroplasticity supports this idea. We’re learning more and more that the brain is malleable, shaped by repeated experiences and thoughts.
Even if we throw out the science—even if our core beliefs can’t be changed—I can tell you from my own experience that taking time to imagine positive outcomes is immediately rewarding.
Reimagining a memory can bring back all of its emotions. Imagining a possibility can stir the heart as if it were real. This is the power of imagination—to create not just ideas, but experiences within the mind. And these experiences, when chosen wisely, may hold the key to healing.
This understanding of core beliefs leads us to a fascinating possibility: if experiences shape our beliefs, then deliberately imagined experiences might reshape them too.
Healing through Imagination
As I read through Learning Love and put some of Gibson’s suggestions into practice, I found two of my own ways to imagine positive emotional experiences that have been particularly helpful in shifting my mood when I’m in the grips of negative thinking. I want to share them with you in hopes that they will help.
Method 1: Music
Music has a powerful emotional effect on me, and I just so happen to play guitar. So I wrote a song about a moment I remembered from years ago that disproved one of my own faulty core beliefs—a core belief that was hurting me rather than helping me. I can’t give you scientific proof, but singing that song felt amazing. I felt a real sense of relief from some shadowy oppression.
Method 2: An AI Chatbot
I often bounce ideas off of an AI chatbot. It has been incredibly useful in helping me to not only discover my faulty core beliefs but also to role-play experiences that disprove those beliefs. I often struggle with “I am rejected,” one of the core beliefs that Gibson lists in her book—a list she adopted from psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck’s research around core wounds.
As a way of combatting this belief, I role-played a few experiences of acceptance where I might have normally expected rejection because of my faulty core belief. As I typed my replies in a mock conversation with the chatbot, I imagined the experience happening—the laughter, the eye contact, the excitement, the acceptance.
Time will tell whether this practice leads to lasting change, but the immediate effects are undeniable. My mood is much lighter after imagining such an experience. Just as imagination once amplified my childhood fears, it can now amplify my capacity for healing and growth.
A Challenge for You
Now, you don’t need to be a musician or to use artificial intelligence to imagine positive experiences. I don’t think it really matters how you go about it. What matters is that you imagine details, creating a rich emotional experience. But I don’t want you to take my word for it.
I challenge you to take five minutes today to immerse yourself in a positive imagined experience—one that brings gratitude, awe, or joy.
I invite you to try this today. Take five minutes to imagine a moment that would fill you with joy, gratitude, or love. See how it feels.
Perhaps this is what it means to be “transformed by the renewal of your mind.” When we heal our minds, we transform our hearts—and with that, we become forces of good in the world.
“A good person brings forth good out of a store of goodness…”
Matthew 12:35