Vision Board: a collage of images and words representing a person’s wishes or goals, intended to serve as inspiration or motivation.
It’s been a difficult few weeks for several reasons. So, as a way to calm my inner storm and keep my spirits up, I decided to create a vision board. I’ve never done one before so I figured it could be a nice creative activity.
While googling vision board workshops and discovering how cutting up pieces of paper and sticking it to a sheet could cost upwards of $200, I decided to get crafty on my own. I ended up creating a digital version and an old school one with magazine clippings.
As the legend goes, if you want to manifest your visions into reality your vision board needs to be somewhere you look at daily. The digital version is great because you can save it as your home lock screen screensaver.
I chose to do both versions mostly because I only had two magazines laying around and it just wasn’t enough material to capture my visions.
Digital Vision Board
This online vision board focuses more on my short-term vision and is mostly centered around how I want to feel. It’s less about the actual goals I want to achieve (maybe I did it wrong?).
I spent a solid hour on Tumblr looking for these specific images to represent my visions. I could’ve added way more pictures, but I didn’t want it to get drowned out in the noise so I kept it specific. Weirdly enough, creating this vision board made me realise how much I already have.
These are the things I want to feel more of this year:
- Self-care & spiritual growth
The image of the house in the woods represents a calm refuge; a safe place away from the chaos of the world to recharge my spirit. It represents continuing my self-care rituals of writing, reading, painting, walking, meditating, podcast listening, healthy meal cooking. These activities nourish me and are necessary for my mental health.
- Adventures & new experiences
The picture in the top middle represents travel and adventure with friends and family. It’s about saying yes to adventures, going on holidays and taking advantage of weekends. I want to get out into nature more, watching the sunset and strive to always be present to the beauty of life.
- Slowing down
Life is not a race, it’s a journey. No matter how many times I remind myself of this, it does not stick in my mind for long. It’s like my mind can’t quite figure out where to store this info. Reminding myself of this is a daily (sometimes hourly) practice. Laying in a hammock is the perfect representation of slowing down, chilling out and enjoying life.
- Dinner parties & deep connections
I’ve always loved gatherings in people’s home. In my twenties, I loved house parties because they were more intimate and connected than a crowded bar. Plus, you had more control over the music situation. As a 30-year-old, enjoying a homecooked meal with friends tastes so much better than going to a high-end restaurant. As we clink our wine glasses to cheers, I’m reminded every time that a dinner party is probably the most satisfying forms of connection there is.
- Therapeutic workshops & serving the community
This is the only part of my vision board that is an actual goal. One day in the very soon future I want to gain the skills needed to run my own therapeutic workshops. I’d love to develop writing programs for at-risk teens, or transpersonal sessions classes for prison inmates, or painting classes for elderly in old folks homes. This goal is still forming in my head.
- Rest & relaxation
That image of the girl on a patio looks like complete bliss to me. It looks like she is on vacation, somewhere in the south of France. I’d imagine it’s about 11am, and she just woke up. The food is plenty with tons of warm pain au chocolat, baguettes and cheese, and of course, a delicious cup of coffee. She has something to read and someone to love (the person who took the picture). I can image Mat and I here; enjoying those kinds of mornings that last well into the late afternoon. Bliss.
- Animals
How snuggly and sweet is this fluffy cat? I want a cat very, very badly. All my life I always had an animal to come home to. This is the first time of my life I’ve gone for so long without one greeting me at the door. At times of great stress, having something fluffy and chubby to cuddle is the best stress reliever ever. Whenever I complain to Mat he jokes, “why don’t you cuddle me? I’m fluffy and fat.”
- Creating & discovering
The girl painting represents more than painting. It represents the creation of any kind; whether it’s further developing my blog or delving into a skill I want to know more about. I want to continue to grow, create, and stretch my mind to its limits.
- Getting married
We are moving slowly ahead in the wedding planning. I went on my first wedding dress adventure and felt like I was in a movie. It’s all a little bit overwhelming and there is a long way to go to plan the biggest party of our lives. But, as my girlfriend said to me the other day. “Weddings take so much time to plan and organise and on the day it just goes by in second.” I took that as: enjoy the journey of getting married. It’s not just the day you walk down the aisle in the white dress, it’s started the moment he got down on bended knee.
Paper vision board
My paper vision board is more about my long term vision. I could have added so much more but I was limited with my lack of magazines.
These are the things I want more of in my life:
- Community service
The top left is about a sense of community, helping people and “lifting them higher.” Whether this is through group counseling or community engagement, I still don’t quite know.
- Refuge
The top middle is having a sun-drenched home with space and lots and lots of books. A calming refuge to re-energise is a critical element, always.
- Travel
The top right is about experiencing new things and having lots of “wow” moments that take my breath away. It’s also about playing my part to protect and enrich the beautiful planet we all call home. The destruction to the planet hurts me deeply, to the point where news has been cut out my daily routine. Even scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed makes me sick with how much plastic is killing our sea animals. All I can do is play a role in being as sustainable as I can and continuously striving to improve.
- Family
Having a family one day in the future. Not within the year but someday having a little mini Mat and Kim running around would be quite an adventure. At the moment though, the thought of it terrifies me and it’s something I need to work through.
- Spiritual growth
Meditation, yoga, and self-analysis. All the good things! I like the words “seeing without looking” because it’s all about coming inwards and experiencing life in a really deep, savoring way. It’s not about judging things or jumping to conclusions, it’s about making space and taking time to go within.
- Adventure
The right section is about having adventures, being financially well-off, and trekking down the path of the ambiguous Art Therapy.
- Trust
The image in the bottom left is all about trusting my journey and finding the courage to take my own path. It’s also about writing a best-selling book (it’s going to happen!)
- Friendship
The bottom middle is about focusing on those friends of mine who are like-minded and supportive. It’s about forging deeper friendships with them and being a better friend to them.
- Canada, Australia, France
Not really a visualisation… This one is about the reality of living in between 3 countries and the confusion we still face about where we will end up.
Art Therapy with Kimberly 