Visualizations

["leviathanthewise" <fish_studios@...>]

I know that a ton of posts have been done on this topic, and I tried 
my best to sift through them to see if this had been asked before 
and I couldn't find it.

Anyway, here's the question:

Is it okay to start visualizations with simple, shapes (such as a 
cube) rather than a real object in front of you? My mind tends to 
over-analyze things and I have a hard time with creating an image as 
I try and put a little too much detail into. For example, if I was 
to visualize a pencil, its not enough just to see a pencil, I have 
to think about the lead inside the pencil, how worn is the lead, is 
the eraser worn down, does it have lead traces on it, are there 
scratches on the pencil, writing, is the wood on the end frayed or 
smooth, and it goes on and on and on.

It ends up being more of a mental thought exercise than a 
visualization one. It takes me almost 5 minutes to build the image 
and then to try and hold on to it after what I just put myself 
through isn't all that easy.

So I was thinking that maybe starting with extremely basic shapes 
would be a good idea, to help train my mind in building the image 
and learning to hold.

I'm not saying that I think there's something wrong with all the 
detail, just that here at first its hindering more than helping.

Any thoughts on this? Are simple shapes okay? or should I stick to 
pencils and such and work through the difficulty?


-- Alan