The Psychology of Travel – The Miracle Question
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In psychological therapy, there is a classic technique called ‘The Miracle Question’.
Clients who are ‘stuck’ are asked, ‘If I were to wave a magic wand and in the morning you would wake up and something would be different, what would it be?’ Answers range from something achievable to the outright impossible, but they give the client the feeling that things can change and from thinking about the possibilities that change can bring, optimism can be introduced.
I was stuck at an airport recently, with a group of strangers and, while waiting for a plane replacement for the faulty one we had just got off, we started chatting. To cut a long story short, I asked them all the ‘Miracle Question’.
After the obvious wishes that the airline would reinvent itself, and that we were all miraculously whisked to our destinations (Beam Me Up, Scottie), the conversation became more serious and there emerged a consensus for a world without frontiers. How wonderful it would be, we agreed, to be able to travel the world without restrictions.
We were all either tourists or business travellers, either homeward bound or off for a trip – the longest was for four weeks – so in many ways, for us, the issues around borders was relatively transparent for us. Some needed entry visas, some had applied for visas online and had electronic visas, and we agreed that this made the process fairly easy.
But we speculated on a world where there was complete freedom to travel and settle, wherever we wanted in the world. There would be no borders, no immigration, no customs.
Surely, we agreed, a level of stability would be reached, sooner or later. Economic migrants would only want to go where there was work, and once there was none, they would stop going there. Political refugees would choose to go where they would feel safest or have family.
People would go to where there is work and peace and countries which are full would become less attractive to migrants.
Of course this is a naive viewpoint for countries with welfare systems would be overwhelmed, but it still seems a nice dream, and after all, sometimes, miracles do happen.
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Annie Gurton is a fully qualified Psychological Therapist and Counsellor who has been helping people in emotional pain and difficulties for many years. She’s well-travelled in the world and in life, and she’s really cool.
www.anniegurton.com (+61) 423 632 657
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