Vision Boards – the process of dreaming big and still being grateful

Today we have a guest post from Katrina of Letting Go of Clutter, Finding Peace. She shares with us her journey through making a vision board last year. (Photo below is of her vision board.)

 

At one point last year I was seriously starting to feel like a fraud.  I knew all the benefits of journaling, had used a journal years ago at various times, was recommending the process to friends and customers, but I was struggling to make the process personally relevant.  There was something stopping me from writing down my inner most thoughts.  I knew that I wanted to, but just couldn’t seem to make a start.

 

Then along came Soli from “Journal Junky” with her gorgeous leather bound journals and mentioned that she was going to run a “Vision Board Workshop”.  This sounded interesting!   It really appealed to me… perhaps because it was something visual that didn’t involve writing.

 

I knew enough about vision boards and the ‘Law of Attraction’ to have faith in the process, and I also know myself well enough to acknowledge and accept that I work better in a group situation than when left to my own devices.  It was a little scary hitting that “buy now” button as I signed up for the 2 part workshop.  It was ages since I’d stepped out of my comfort zone to learn something new, ages since I’d met new people in this kind of group situation, and ages since I’d allowed myself to dream about what I really wanted in life.

 

We were encouraged to dream huge, to be open to new possibilities and new ideas, and to be prepared to be surprised.  She encouraged us to think about what we truly wanted to achieve, and prompted us to think about why… and asked how we would FEEL when we had received or achieved what we truly wanted.

We had 10 aspects of life to address…

Body/Self

Home

Work & Study

Romantic Relationship

Family Relationships

Friends, Fun & Social

Travel & Adventure

Finances

Legacy & Contributions

Ideal Lifestyle

 

She asked questions to focus our thinking and dreaming in each of these areas. There was no right or wrong answers, no judgement, and I was a little surprised to find that the overriding theme for my jottings was “peace”.  I came home totally inspired and excited and started searching for pictures in magazines to represent my ideas.

 

And what I discovered in this process is that I was really drawn to the words and phrases more than the pictures… somewhat surprising for someone who thought of herself as a visual person!

I did initially struggle with feeling like the ‘dreaming big’ meant that I wasn’t grateful for what I currently had in my life.  Was dreaming of the ‘perfect house’ with the ‘perfect pantry’ implying that I didn’t feel extremely grateful for having a perfectly adequate roof over my head?  A family property had been made available to me when I needed something urgently and I didn’t want to appear ungrateful or unhappy with my current situation.  After lots of chatting with friends and family, I decided that it was all OK.  It was possible to be grateful and have dreams at the same time.  In fact, being grateful was an intrinsic part of the manifestation process.

 

So did it “work”??  Yes, and I think it still is working!   When I look at the board, I feel more focused and reminded of where I’m heading.  Most of my categories were reasonably long term visions or goals, so I feel that I’m still working towards achieving them.

 

Some of the phrases were a little “tongue in cheek”, like “Garden of the Year”.   We’re not quite there yet, but WOW!   There have been some major changes and improvements made, and they will continue as the garden evolves.

 

Do I have my perfect “dream home” with character, the perfect pantry and a home that’s free of clutter?  Well… I’m extremely grateful to have a great house to live in which has family history and charm, there’s still clutter but we’re working on it slowly, and YES!  I finally have the “perfect pantry”… the perfect solution for this house!  Definitely not a walk in butler’s pantry of my ultimate pantry dreams, but absolutely perfect for this house, and for now.

 

My personal journey of “clearing the clutter” lead to the creation of my Facebook page “Letting Go of Clutter. Finding Peace.”, and in time, my blog of the same name has followed.  Finally the writing block had been shifted!  And I give credit to Soli and her processes for giving me the direction, encouragement and safe environment to discover what I really wanted to do… WRITE!

 

I was planning to pull apart this vision board to make room for a new one, but on reflection I think that it’s all still relevant.  I think I will choose a couple of aspects perhaps to expand on now as there have been some shifts in thinking, and clarification of values and priorities over the last few months.  So there might be an additional mini vision board coming soon.

 

I have realised that the words and pictures on the vision board are a representation of how I want to FEEL, and of my values around each of those aspects of my life, and because of that, what constitutes a ‘perfect pantry’ here will look different in a new house in the future, but my intentions in my “legacy” box will probably remain the same for many years into the future and may never change… “cares for the environment” and “making a difference” are phrases that I hope will be applicable for the foreseeable future!  And you can bet that wherever I live, I’ll be aiming for that “Garden of the Year”!

 

 

Guest Blogger Bio: Until very recently Katrina was a single mother to one little man on a personal journey to clear her emotional and physical clutter.  Now they are a family of 3 and still clearing their “stuff”.  Her blog and Facebook page “Letting Go of Clutter Finding Peace” are the places where she shares her experience of clutter clearing and the quotes and articles that keep her inspired and on task.

 

Have you started working on your vision board – clipping words and images, looking on the computer or gathering supplies? Any questions or tips?

 

Find your simple,

Deb

Tagged as: vision board