Illustrated dreams

Are vision boards a thing of the past? Pinterest is really giant vision board playground. Has Pinterest made creating a real live one obsolete? I hope not.

Creating a vision board – and it doesn’t have to be a board, I’m more of a vision box or journal kind of person – helps you visualize your goals and dreams, helps you organize your thoughts and create a clear picture, literally, of what’s important to you. And besides all that, It’s just fun. What’s not to love about looking at gorgeous photos of things that make you swoon?

There’s lots of chatter out there about why they work – laws of attraction and all. Maybe it’s magic, maybe it’s not. To me, if you pay attention to something, if you give something your undivided attention, you know what happens, right? It happens. When you focus on something, you get it done.

Creating a vision board does not mean you can just dream it into reality. This is your life. The goals you want to reach. The things you want to accomplish. You know darn well that a lot of hard work has to be done to achieve each and every one of them. The vision board is just a beautiful way to direct your attention.

The most common way to pull a vision board together is, in fact a board, but like I mentioned earlier, I like the idea of a box. I like to be able to hold the pictures in my hand, I love digging in to the bottom and seeing what comes up. I also love adding mementos – a shell from our last beach vacation, a smooth stone from the time I taught my son how to skip stones on a pond. Not that I doubt the more creative among us could find a way to attach anything to a board. For me it also makes it more private, kind of like a diary.

People also use a bulletin board in their home office. I’ve even seen people frame their pictures and devote a wall or corner to them, sort of a rogues’ gallery of dreams.

You can create a number of vision boards; you’re not limited to just one. You could have one for your personal life and one for your business or professional career. What about one for your dream cottage or bathroom? How about one that you create with your family?

Some tips for success?

• Make it about how you want to feel , not just things you want.
• Include yourself in the dream. Include photos or things from moments of joy; times when you were happy.
• Be as precise as you can possibly be. If you want to one day own a house in a particular neighbourhood, go there and snap some photos to stick on your board.
• This is not a nice-but-it’ll-never-happen-to-me board. You have to believe these things can come true.
• Add some inspirational quotes or words. Nike’s “Just do it.” Is kind of popping out at me.
• Leave some white space. You never know what might pop out at you later on.

So, how ’bout it? Make yourself a pot of tea. Grab a pile of magazines and a pair of scissors. Let’s get those dreams illustrated.

What about you? What’s on your vision board? Share your story in the comments below. We would love to hear.

Photo credit: marissabracke via Visual Hunt / CC BY