The Vision Boards - Part Two

I had to go and open my big mouth! It happened on Wednesday, at the monthly meeting of the Parker Creative Writers Social Club. This is a group of incredibly talented and fun people who meet once a month at Elk Mountain Brewery to have a beer or three and talk about what's happening with their writing. We were talking about various tools we use to give us focus and track our personal progress, and I mentioned the Vision Boards. Of course this was a little too left-brained for some of the more literal members, and I had to admit that my vision board for 2011 was still as blank and white as fresh snow. The next thing I knew, we were all committing to creating a vision board before our April meeting.

Now, if you'll recall, my vision board for 2011 was blank because I really had no vision for my future -- even my immediate future. Beyond getting up each day and making sure that I fed the animals, including the human ones, and maintaining a household routine, I have been more or less going with the flow. I had a few goals taking shape, but nothing that I wanted to commit to the daily reminder that is the Vision Board.

So I opened my big mouth and forced my own hand. Typical. As a result, I spent the first day of Spring going through magazines tearing out pages, and then trimming and gluing the pictures and words into a collage representing my hopes and dreams for the coming year.

One of the first things I noticed about this year's board is how much of it was affirmations. Instead of grand goals to accomplish great things (except for republishing the book written by my grandmother and great aunt) it was mostly reminders to live in the now, love, laugh, play, and celebrate life and my involvement in it. The following images show some of that detail:

 

I love the positive messages and encouragement I have provided for myself this year and I look forward to stepping out smartly into this reality and away from the darkness and sadness of the past couple of years.