Imagination. It’s all fun and fluff, no substance. It’s great for creativity, sure, but it’s not really, really useful, is it? When it comes to you being well, it is. We may not be able to prove it yet, but the stories are out there. People who thought themselves well.

To me, this goes in the — can’t hurt, why not try? — category.

One story of healing via imagination comes from a famous guy: David Seidler, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay of “The King’s Speech.” Diagnosed with a return of bladder cancer, Seidler decided to use visualization techniques to imagine himself cancer-free. He says he visualized “a lovely, clean, healthy bladder” for two weeks and the cancer disappeared. Better yet, the cancer stayed away.

This is a tough area for science. How do you prove that Seidler’s visualization repaired his cells? How do you know, without a doubt, this was not going to happen anyway?

What took place seems proof enough. The cancer cells were completely gone in two weeks? That’s pretty amazing. A traditional health approach can’t produce that. Plus this sort of thing has happened before. There are quite a few people who have used techniques similar to this to heal from serious disease.

Why don’t we interview them more? Why don’t we hear more about them? Why don’t medical practitioners and cancer researchers get curious as hell about what can be learned?

Still, that doesn’t have to matter. You own you; you make your choice. If you visualize yourself healed from whatever it is that ails you — even if that is a seemingly minor complaint — you can’t lose. Your ailment can’t get worse from you thinking of yourself well. Visualization doesn’t need any warning labels.

We tend to focus heavily on whatever is wrong. It’s natural. If something is bothering you, it’s pretty hard to ignore it. But make the effort to shift your thoughts at least part of the day. Visualize the opposite of whatever is bothering you. See yourself as pain free or disease free. See yourself healthy and vibrant with lots of energy. Or, if you have something very specific such as Seidler, spend your energy and time with a strong visual picture of that one area being perfectly healthy.

I don’t think we have a tip-of-the-iceberg clue how powerful our brains are. I bet we will one day. But, why wait? Explore your own mind/body connection, and make your own decision.