Without a doubt, the blogs I have written about vision boards are the most popular and the most visited. That is not surprising, considering most of us have a "vision" (whether it is expressed or not) of what we want to manifest in our future. It's what "The Secret" was about -- visualizing what you want.
Looking at my most recent vision board created in January 2011, I am seeing that at least two of my visions have become a reality, or nearly so, at any rate. The first one is a desk. I clipped a photo of a pretty little desk by a window. I had not had my own desk to write on since college and I thought it would be nice to have one. I "put it out to the universe" to provide me with a desk and then completely forgot about it.
Lo and behold, one morning, sometime over the summer, my husband comes running into the house with the news that my neighbor was selling her old desk. My husband thought it would be the perfect size for a little nook in our bedroom beside a window. Sure enough, I ran over to my neighbor's house and fell in love with a cute little desk that her father had made for her years ago. A couple of coats of paint later, the desk, where I am sitting now, has a lovely, sunny spot by my window and is one of my favorite places to write and think. Shabby chic!
I also have a picture of a woman standing by the Grand Canyon on this year's vision board. I had been to the GC many years ago (in 1983, after I graduated college, to be exact). During that first visit long ago, it was late winter and a very blustery day in the canyon. In fact, where we were staying in Flagstaff, AZ, was knee deep in snow!
Again, I clipped the picture of the woman standing on the colorful rim of the GC, smacked it on my vision board in January and forgot about it. About a month or two ago, my husband and I were thinking about where to go for spring break next year. Voila! After brainstorming and using the process of elimination (i.e. what could we afford, what would be fairly easy with an eight year old in tow), the Grand Canyon was our top choice. Promptly I made reservations -- and a few of our top choices to stay were already filling up for that same time. But we got into one. So next spring we plan on visiting the grandest of canyons as well as Sedona, Arizona.
I can see that my concrete pictures are giving me more of what I want than abstract ideas. For instance, my dream of dreams is to earn a living through creative writing, and I have phrases like "Mind Over Money" scattered around my vision board. (My few published poems have earned me zero dollars. LOL!) Though I am earning more now from my substitute teaching than in previous years, to say I have made a living by being creative is simply not happening...right now, at least. I need to find a better picture to represent that dream -- say a woman rolling in dough (the green kind, not the cookie kind) as she sits blissfully at a computer...I must state, too, that we have to work at making our dreams come true. I love that famous line "luck is preparedness meeting opportunity." That's why I'm taking more time to write these days. I can't make excuses forever!
The year is not over, yet, and who knows? My advice, though, is to find pictures that are as clearly representative of what you want as possible. As I mentioned to my friends on Face Book, one of my new goals is to visit Rome, Italy and see the locations from the glorious film, "Roman Holiday." (Did you guys think I was kidding? Well, I am totally serious!) I have been to London and Paris, but never Italy. I will definitely scout magazines for a picture of a woman by the Trevi fountain for 2012! (I should mention that a few years ago a dear high school friend of mine was in Rome and threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain "with your name on it," as he wrote to me. I have never fogotten his kind gesture; I hope to see "my" coin in the not so far future!Thanks PK!)
I once read of a prominent woman writer who wanted to live in New York City. She was living on a less than modest income in the Midwest at the time. What did she do? She clipped pictures of the Big Apple, started eating bagels for breakfast (I kid you not!) and listened to Broadway musicals. All the while, writing and working hard to make connections in her dream city. Within a year of her New York City sensory overload, she was living in...drum roll, please...NYC. She described her move as no less than miraculous as the perfect opportunity to live in NYC presented itself to her. Not only did she use pictures, but also she used her taste buds and ears to manifest her dream.
I hope my cappuccino this morning brings me one step closer to Rome...Now, where did I put that Pavarotti CD?
P.S. If you have had success with a vision board, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from my readers! Ciao!
