Vision Board Adventures

2023 Vision Board Adventures

Piles of magazines filled the family room coffee table, the dining room table, and a plastic bin overfilled laying on the floor. As I prepared for the first and only ever vision board party with my sisters and my mom, I was filled with excitement and anticipation of creating a vision of my future. I was captivated by the idea of vision boards – I had done the research and was enamored by the idea that just visualizing your dreams and goals will be achieved. 

As my family entered the house, I had everything prepared for our Vision Board Party. The scissors, glue, and tape were laid out on the dining room table. They had brought their poster boards and any images they had found in their free time. I placed a little plate of snacks and treats in the center of the table to feed our tummies and juice up our creative minds. Now that our company was together, we had the time and space to motivate each other to create visions of our future. We had everything to kick off the 2017 new year in style! I was so enthusiastic about creating a vision and the idea around visualizing your dreams and goals. My curiosity about the powerful notice: “if I envision my goals, they will come true,” fueled my eagerness. I had expectations that these boards were going to turn out like masterpieces. I had a vision of what I thought everyone’s board was going to look like and the feelings it was going to give them. I thought they were going to praise me for my wonderful idea, for taking the initiative to host the party, and that this would start a wonderful New Year tradition – “A New Year Vision Board Party”. 

As the night progressed, my enthusiasm was turning into disappointment. I looked at their posters and thought that they weren’t putting the effort in; they weren’t connecting to the activity. My one sister had a few pictures that barely filled in massive posterboard. My other sister had just a few personal photos that only comfortably fit on her small posterboard. The magazines were barely used, and mom’s vision board had even fewer images and none glued on the board. I felt like they were preoccupied with the snacks and child care, and worrying about what time to head home. It felt kind of like I forced this idea on them. I thought to myself, “they just came to appease me, their coming over was just to do me a favor.” Toward the end of the night, I truly felt it was a waste of my time and their time.  I became disconnected from them, closed off, and discouraged from sharing my passion, my enthusiasm, and my own true feelings. I conclude in my own head that they really didn’t want to be there, and they had better things to do more important things. Hence, this was the one and only vision board party. The party or a party like this was never reciprocated.   

Vision boards are in fact a self-discovering journey. Looking back 6 years from now, the experience not only gave each of us a chance to look into ourselves but also share and connect with each other.   Something I only realized the moment we shared our boards with each other at the end of the night. Each one was very personal and unique to them. My one sister choose personal photos captured pictures of her son and recent ex-husband. In my naivety, I thought my sister did the vision board wrong. I thought to myself, “How could she use pictures of the past when a vision board is supposed to be pictures of the future?” My own expectation of what I thought a vision board was supposed to be blocked me from seeing my sister’s authentic communication. The inner feelings of her pain and longing from her divorce. The intense feeling of her loss and grief over her marriage and changes within her family that were not supported, understood, or acknowledged by me towards my sister. In hindsight, how could I have set expectations on someone’s vision board? my other sister focused on a few specific goals. Each vision board was very personal to each of them. 

Reflects on my 2017 Vision, now in 2023:

I wanted to make a new one every year, but what I found was that I haven’t needed to yet. Most of my goals on this board have been actualized in my life, some are still to be, and some have changed. I now live in a place with beautiful mountains and nature. Exercise is incorporated into my life as a part of me. I graduated with my master's in Statistics, I have practiced meditation, and I started a blog – but it was hard to maintain with other priorities in my life. Furthermore, I have cultivated and became aware of my powerful internal motivation, and I have connected with the person that I want to become. I have become more financially secure. Most importantly, I now have two beautiful kids that are miracles in my life.  

While a Vision Board is a great way to start off the New Year, I have found is a self-discovering journey where one's true desires lie within yourself.

Below were the basic guidelines to create an effective vision board:

1.    Creating Goals.

I created a little worksheet for everyone, asking them to envision their lives in the following categories:

a.    Financial

b.    Health

c.    Spiritual

d.    Family

e.    Career

f.     Adventure

2.    Finding Images.

Focus on finding images that connect your feelings to your goals, (I not only used magazines but also Pinterest to find pictures).

3.    Using Quotes.

You can use a few quotes or words – but mostly stick to images – remember it’s a vision board

4.    Creating a Collage.

Use a large enough poster board to create a clear, visually appealing collage of images that should inspire and cultivate and depict your goals.

5.    Placement.

The last and most important step is where you place your vision board. It should be visible to you daily. This will instill a habit of daily envisioning your goals. – I framed my vision board to on hung it on my bedroom wall.