Having Vision

There are a trifecta of things I like to have in place when I start the year.  The first is a word for the year.  Next, is a wellness prescription.  Finally, I like to create a vision board.

What is a vision board exactly?  It’s a tangible way to capture what you hope to see happen in your year ahead.  I love vision boards because they are a beautiful work of personalized art that consciously and subconsciously inspire you over time.  I’ve kept my vision boards from the last year years and I love looking back at them and seeing how hopes from two or three years ago are still being manifested today.  It is so powerful to watch intention materialize, even if it takes more time than I had originally though or hoped.

This year, I took a new approach to my vision board and I made two: one that really captured what I wanted to see happen in my personal life and another that captured what I wanted to see happen in my professional like.  In many ways, the vision boards ART-iculated (pardon me while I place the emphasis on ART) what I have previously written in my birthday list, wellness prescription, and with my word but I find that clarity of vision and re-commitment to a sense of purpose is never redundant; it’s just affirming.

On my personal vision board, you see images like a woman and child gardening, a hand stroking a horse’s nose, a woman doing yoga, a little boy with curls, a woman running with an expanse of natural lushness behind her, a tranquil dock, women stand up paddling, a villa over the ocean, a peaceful nook in a home.  Some of the words and phrases read, “fresh, thinking outside the box, clarity and simplicity, real, pure, natural beauty, raise a bookworm, serenity, whole life, cozy retreat, art, self-awareness, artful escape, play to your strength, let it flow, Ethiopia, oasis, find your balance, and beautiful simplicity.”

I look at this vision board and I see very concrete things:  my desire to really develop my horsemanship skills, my desire to get outside more and to move my body in ways that bring me joy, a desire for peace and tranquility, a desire to make my home even more of an oasis for me and my family, a desire to grow more of our food and to teach Happy the power and peace of that work, a desire to relax and not make so much work, a desire to share my sparkle, a desire to realign my personal style so that how I project myself is a more accurate representation of who and how I am, a desire to facilitate peace within myself and around me, too.

On my professional vision board, there are more words than images.  Phrases and words like time to shine, inspired, to boldly go, make it happen, celebrating women, inspired retreats, inspire creativity, beautifully focused, be vibrant, everyone has a calling, on a mission, be a force of beauty, charisma, reflect, ease, pure, real, you are beauty full, live big, this is the year, core values, courage, happiness, spark a breakthrough, passionate, bold, “I’m a firm believer that anyone can have a breakthrough right in her own backyard” and “learn to hear what your inner voice is telling you, and your whole world changes” capture my imagination.

My mission is to empower women to embrace their authentic selves so that they can live their passion and purpose and give their gifts to the world.  While this has long been my focus, my mission this year is to really bring that mission to life by offering mission-based writing and experiences (read: virtual and in person retreats and workshops) to the women in my world (that, as it turns out, is the gift I have to give to the world).  I really wanted to capture that focus and feeling in a vision board so that I could be reminded of my focus when the work gets hard or reminded of that focus when an opportunity presents itself but isn’t quite right for me in my desire to keep to this mission.

I completed these two vision boards on the same foam board and I just flip it around when I want to see one instead of the other.  These two vision boards are my favorite two yet (but I feel that way every year which is to say that every year the newest vision board captures where I really am at the moment).  I am excited about how they are already subconsciously and consciously inspiring and guiding me and look forward to seeing which visions materialize and which ones fall away as less important as the year takes form.

Have you ever created a vision board?  Was it a good tool for you?  Are you considering making a vision board for this year?  If so, what do you want to capture in it?  Also, I love to do a post around mid-January that features vision boards from many women.  Please share yours with me on Facebook or by emailing a photo to hijasamericanas at gmail dot com (and putting Vision Board 2012 in the subject line).  If you want tips on how to create your vision board, here’s some advice.  Can’t wait to see your’s!