The Vision Boards

For the past couple of years, I've been getting together with my friend and fellow writer, Lissa Forbes, to create our yearly Vision Boards or Dream Boards. We normally do this on January 1 at Lissa's house. There may be two or three of us. We make a day of it: going through magazines and tearing out pictures and phrases that catch our eye and feel like a breadcrumb on the path to the future we are creating for ourselves. We break for homemade soup and bread, that Lissa has ready in the crockpot and breadmaker. By the time of that break, we've been smelling the lovely aromas all afternoon and we are ready!

After we've eaten, we go back to work: sorting through the images and phrases and putting together the vision of those situations, conditions, and opportunities that we are willing into our lives in the coming year(s). We trim and shape the pieces of paper and create a collage on a poster board.  I like to use 1/8-1/4" foamboard and an archival paste.

Now, this may all sound very Woo-Woo to some of you, but I have found that it works better at creating change and movement forward in my life than does writing out new year's resolutions. It doesn't always happen within the first year, and sometimes not even in the second; and it almost always comes in so subtly that you don't realize what has happened.

I missed the Vision Board party this year. Lissa was recovering from a cold on the 1st and none of us wanted to take a chance on being ill. I knew my resistance was really low from the events of the months before, and I was taking extra good care of myself through the holidays. We rescheduled for the 15th. I missed that one because I couldn't get myself out of the house that day. The idea of interacting with other people was actually a little frightening. I only had a few weeks of that, and I am sure the cold and icy weather provided a handy excuse.

As a consequence, my 2-3' foam board for 2011 remains as blank and white as the day I bought it. I was beginning to think of it as a metaphor for the vision I have for my life right now: Blank. As in a blank slate. Begging to be marked up with lines and arrows and doodles, or a game of hangman or tic-tac-toe...

There is another possibility, however. When I looked back at the board I had created for 2010, I realized that perhaps this year is the time for me to catch up a little on all those visions that I created before. A year to recognize those moments and enjoy them with a grateful heart. A year to rest and reflect on all that is good in my life.

Speaking of good in my life, I am getting ready for an exciting adventure on March 1. With the help of my son's frequent flier miles and about $300, I am winging it to Hawaii! I'll be visiting with my lives-long (that is not a spelling error) girlfriend in Honolulu as well as my sister and Bob-in-law on Maui. I'm going to do as many of the touristy things I can do without spending goo-gobs of money, because of course I don't have goo-gobs of money.

The last time I came close to Hawaii was in 1974. I was on my way to Okinawa on my first assignment in the Air Force. I was on a plane full of US Marines, and we stopped to refuel in Honolulu. We were allowed to get off the plane and go into the airport, but I think they actually posted guards to ensure that none of us attempted to leave the airport. Several of us were intent on only one thing, getting to the bar and having a drink with an umbrella in it. Who knew when we would ever have a chance to have a drink in Hawaii again?

Mine was a Mai Tai.