How to Visualize in First Person

[Breloomancer]

Please note that the following tip was written with the intention of being used by the person in a system who is currently switched in, and as a result would probably not be very helpful if you are not switched in.

 

A surprising number of people when visualizing have difficulty getting into a first-person perspective, instead they are stuck in a third-person perspective, controlling their form from a distance.

 

For those of you who are stuck in third person and would like to go into first person, I have a solution. Instead of trying to go into the form that you have already imagined, temporarily get rid of that form and move around your visualized field of view at the elevation that your form would normally stand. After you get comfortable with that, imagine having feet beneath you and make your vision bob up and down slightly as you walk. As you get used to that, try adding more body parts until your form is fully constructed around your perspective. It is best to take this process slow so that you are less likely to meet intrusive thoughts blocking you from your goal and so that you are able to get more acclimated to visualizing like this.

 

If this process doesn't work on your first try then try again, this time doing it a bit more slowly and maybe meditating beforehand.

 

 

Submitted for tips & tricks

[Ranger]

I think it's a neat little trick. It may seem obvious, but it's worth talking about.

 

I don't know if getting rid of your wonderland form is completely necessary, but I like that you mentioned you shouldn't be looking at your form in 1st person, and an easy way of doing that is to obscure it from view.

 

I wonder if the host had a more humanoid form, they could practice by staring at their feet and hands for instance.

[Ember.Vesper]

Weak as our visualization is, we haven't had much trouble keeping the camera in first-person view. We've had trouble with there only *being* one camera, with multiple people wanting to use it. If we use third person, it's for the sake of fairness. The number one reason why Vesper takes the camera is for the sake of being able to look down at her form.

 

You definitely don't need a humanoid form for any of this, Ranger. I strongly prefer feline form myself.

 

-Ember

[Luminesce]

Couldn't do first person back in the day, or control my visualization well at all. Lots of perspective rolling and stuff. Learned how to control it (just a mental discipline thing), though imagining walking in first person is still difficult, I'm a little better at it. Definitely going from third person to first person was a mental thing like you mentioned for me though. I had to stop saying "That's me, look from there" and actually put myself in that spot instead, if that makes sense. Referencing real life experience can help too, like for sitting at the ~restaurant booth in our house.

 

Of course, I mostly just let our perspective do whatever it wants in visualization. More fun to have different sorts of views, like a movie or TV show.

[Breloomancer]

I think it's a neat little trick. It may seem obvious, but it's worth talking about.

 

I don't know if getting rid of your wonderland form is completely necessary, but I like that you mentioned you shouldn't be looking at your form in 1st person, and an easy way of doing that is to obscure it from view.

 

I wonder if the host had a more humanoid form, they could practice by staring at their feet and hands for instance.

 

If you don't remove your form before remaking it in a way that feels more conected to your pov then it seems like the only use of the previous form is to distract. I'm not quite certain what the point you're trying to make is

[Ranger]

 

If you don't remove your form before remaking it in a way that feels more conected to your pov then it seems like the only use of the previous form is to distract. I'm not quite certain what the point you're trying to make is

 

I'm sorry, I misread the process. For some reason I took the idea of losing the entire form too literally. You were saying get rid of your 3rd person form, not to get rid of the form all together.

[Piano Soul]

This may be slightly nit-picky, but the title should have proper capitalization: "How to Visualize in First Person"

 

Grammar/spelling corrections:

[hidden]

A surprising number of people when visualizing have difficulty getting into a first person perspective,

"A surprising number of people have difficulty getting into a first-person perspective while visualizing,"

 

"First person" becomes "first-person" when used as an adjective.

 

instead they are stuck in a third person perspective, controling their form from a distance.

"and instead they are stuck in a third-person perspective, controlling their form from a distance."

 

 

For those of you who are stuck in third person and would like to go into first person I have a solution.

"For those who are stuck in third person and would like to go in first person, I have a solution."

 

move around your feild of view at the elevation that you normally stand.

"field"

 

After you get comfortable with that imagine feet beneath you; as you move, your feet walk; imagine bobbing up and down slightly as you walk.

"After you get comfortable with that, imagine feet moving beneath you, and yourself bobbing up and down slightly as you walk."

 

As you get comfortable with what you already have try adding

"As you go on, try adding"

[/hidden]

 

Content critiques

First thing, also probably a little nit-picky: you should probably specify that this is directed towards fronters or hosts, just to make it a bit more clear. I can see a tulpa reading this and struggling to go in first-person POV while someone else is fronting.

 

Where you say to get rid of the form, you might want to clarify "temporarily" and that they should use no form instead, just in case someone gets confused.

 

The thing about being at the elevation you normally stand is a bit eh. What if the form is something small? Should they raise up the ground to meet their elevation level? I think that would make more sense if you specified that they should do that, since not everyone uses a human form or a form of the same height as the body. What if the form doesn't even have feet to walk? Probably clarify that they should imagine themselves moving however their regular form would move, or something similar.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "resistance from the mind." It's best to take it slow so that they get used to it and it becomes easier, right? Not because something will resist.

 

Overall though, good tip/trick, touch up on the grammar and wording issues and clarify those things I mentioned, and I'll approve.

[Breloomancer]

Edited to comply with your critiques

[Kopase]

I think this is very straightforward and, while somewhat specific and likely to not be necessary for most people, an effective way of dealing with that problem. AKA the exact sort of thing that should go into tips and tricks.

[Ponytail]

"make your vision bob up and down slightly as you walk"

it's not real until you have shaky cam

 

Joking aside, I feel this could highly benefit from expanding on it more. Adding more steps in increasing detail, primarily.

 

... that's really all I have to say. Approved.

[Ranger]

Overall, I really like this submission. I only have two important issues that need need to be addressed:

 

Instead of trying to go into the form that you have already imagined, temporarily get rid of that form and move around your feild of view at the elevation that your form would normally stand. After you get comfortable with that[,] imagine having feet beneath you and make your vision bob up and down slightly as you walk.

 

A couple things here. First, go ahead and fix "field" and add the comma after "that". After that, you should add the context that this is happening in the mind's eye or the wonderland. I know it should seem obvious, but I can see how "move around your field of vision" can translate to a reader literally walking around irl and being very confused. I recommend the former since some people may not have a wonderland.

 

After you fix those two things, I will approve this for Tips and Tricks. All of the stuff I added bellow would add more a little more meat, but you don't have to add it if you don't want too.

 

---

 

Please note that the following tip was written with the intention of being used by the person in a system who is currently switched in[...]

 

I can see why Piano recommended this disclaimer since younger Tulpas may have more trouble with this if they have never attempted to possess or switch in before, and I'm glad you added it.

 

For a more developed system, I don't think it matters too much. I believe in there being one "mind cam", and if I decided to go into first person, Cat would experience herself from my perspective in the wonderland. I can front while staring at my wonderland form. I have to admit- waving at myself is really funny.

 

, and as a result would probably not be very helpful if you are not switched in.

 

I disagree, it's a fun challenge to try, but only after the reader mastered your tip first.

 

It is best to take this process slow so that you are less likely to meet intrusive thoughts blocking you from your goal and so that you are able to get more acclimated to visualizing like this.

 

What intrusive thoughts are you referring to here? Are they thoughts of discouragement? If not and these intrusive thoughts are specific to this process, you may want to make note of them.

 

If this process doesn't work on your first try then try again, this time doing it a bit more slowly and maybe meditating beforehand.

 

It could be an issue if the user has trouble with visualization and they simply need more practice visualizing. In this case, I would recommend letting them take a break and wait until they are getting better results with their visualization.