one does not hope to discover anything surprising or novel in one’s own imagery, whereas hallucinations may be full of surprises. They are often much more detailed than imagery, and ask to be inspected and studied.
Reminds me of the closed-eye visuals after MDMA. Also reminds me of lucid dreaming. Lucid dreams seem to take place in the "world" (I'm in a believable environment), whereas the closed-eye visuals are usually more abstract, such as a string of words scrolling across my visual field. The closed-eye visuals also feel much more like I'm "watching a movie" (I have no control over them)
