“Dreams are sacred future events.”-Laila Gifty Akita
I absolutely loved fourth grade art class. We did all kinds of projects from drawing life-size figures of ourselves (using watercolor paint) to attempting still life pictures of apples. I still can’t draw, but have always appreciated the aspect of a person discovering and using their creativity.
It wasn’t until years later I learned about vision boards. Vision boards are like those art class collages, using a piece of poster board, scissors, glue or tape, and lots of magazines. Well-known life coach and author Martha Beck suggests that this simple tool can tell you about your dreams and life goals. My inner child loved this idea. I set aside time with some jazz music, said supplies and my living room floor. I tore out anything that spoke to me and my ideal life. Where I wanted to live, how I wanted to feel, places I wanted to go. Then, I hid the board behind my dresser and didn’t look at it.
Until recently.
Surprisingly, a few of those goals had either been attempted or worked out in different ways than expected. As an example, my board mentioned a conference I had wanted to attend in California. I haven’t attended it yet. However, I did attend a one-day workshop in a different location with the instructor of the conference. I also learned some a-ha’s that never popped out at me before. Instead of looking at my vision board in a general sense, I posed a question:
“If money were no object, I….”
Rather than trying to answer my life-long questions of “Who am I?” and “What do I want?” the board did the revealing for me. Asking the question while looking at the photos gave me an idea of who I was, but also who I am trying to be. The general way we tend to look at things is by using the ego. The ego tells us everything we think we “should” say or “should” do. This is wrong, because making a vision board is a heart-centered exercise.
I posed another question. “What do the pictures posted tell me about myself?” In a matter of minutes, I came up with 24 characteristics that explained my character. It was pretty accurate too. Allow intuition to guide what pictures you choose.
The last question was “Who am I trying to be?” Here, I was able to list 10 things that explained a “starting point” to the life I was trying to create for myself. As an example, one of the pictures on my vision board is a picture of a canopy of trees. To me, it reflects a place to meditate and reflect. The same could be said for a treehouse if I saw one to add to my board.
A few years ago, I attended a one day workshop where the instructor talked about writing down goals. She had mentioned that after writing down her own (well over a decade for her), most of them had manifested. I don’t recommend putting your list or vision board away as I did, but to keep it in a place where it reminds you of your goals often.
Have you made or had experience with vision boards?
Writing With A View 