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There are 3 rituals I have for every new year. The first is choosing a word for the year (check out last week’s post if you missed it) . The second is making a vision board. The third is getting a handle on my self-care plan by writing a wellness prescription and coming up with an incorporation plan (I plan to talk about that next week). I’ve made yearly vision boards for about a decade, and I really love how they capture my intentions and hopes for the new year.
In fact, my annual vision boards so profoundly speak to me that at the end of each year, as I anticipate making a new one, I am always torn. The current vision board so powerfully speaks to me and it is beautiful and maybe I don’t really need a new one. But then I make the new one and, holy cow, do I come to see that it really does capture what is next for me in terms of growth.
While vision boards are incredibly personal (my vision board won’t speak to you in the same way that your vision board speaks to you), I thought I would share a little bit about this year’s vision board and what it means for my 2017 hopes and intentions. But, first, a little background. My work on the next year’s vision board starts not long after I complete the current year’s board. That’s because as I read any magazines that come my way, I tear out any words or images that resonate with me and put them in an envelope. Once it gets closer to vision board time, I more intentionally go through magazines (many of which I get from friends when they are done with their’s) with my vision board in mind. Then, in the closing days of the year, I go through all the images and words and start processing what ideas I have collected in anticipation of the new year.
In making my 2017 board, I found these emergent themes:
- a desire for ease, freedom, peace and calm.
- light/hopefulness
- creativity and inspiration
- making a difference/having an impact
- rising, growth, improvement
As I go through the images, I weed out redundancy, choose image and words that are shared in a way that most resonates, and start to lay out my board. I find that as I go through the process of laying out my board and choosing what goes where, I develop further insight into my longings for the new year.
With my 2017 board, I found that yes, those themes were all on point but there were a few other priorities as well. My anxiety has grown over the last decade as we have faced some tough challenges. I want to feel less of the fear in 2017 and more joy and so I am practicing greater intentionality around how shifting my mindset, getting support, being honest, being brave, and saying no so that I can be more present for my yeses. I love being creative, it serves me well in the moment and with long term visioning and so I am working to incorporate more daily, easy creativity into my life (hello art journal and simple art workshops). I want to strengthen some places where I should have more savvy— finances especially financial planning. And I want to tend to my light so I can offer hope and hear to others.
Once I am done with the board, I place it in the Sugar Shack so that I regularly see it. When I am stuck on an idea or just feeling off, I’ll often stand in front of the board and take it while I am trying to solve the problem in my head. This allows me to regularly come back to my hopes and intentions and realign myself with those beginning of the year visions.
Do you have beginning of the year rituals? What are they?
Want to make your own vision board? Here’s some advice.
Or, if you are local, join me and some other great women on February 4th from 9 am until 12:30 pm in Charlotte for visionSPARK.
