If you’re like me and want to start 2021 off right, here’s one of my favorite tools for launching the year with intention, guidance and inquiry - vision boards.
But this year I have a twist-
I created a new thing- a Soul Vision Board!!!!!
Did you download the free vision board pdf? If not, you can right here. Or watch this quick video of me explaining a vision board on TV a few years ago!
Making vision boards is one of my family’s New Year’s Eve traditions. The fireplace is roaring, the Christmas lights (and music) are blasting, and I’m typically on the rug, ripping, cutting and gluing, making a giant mess!
Normally I’m extremely intentional about this project.
I think about the different areas of my life and how/what I want to experience in each. I’ll have imagery for my spiritual development – maybe a picture of a book, goddess or teacher. I’ll have a picture of a place I want to visit (typically someplace where I can ski), for years I had African animals – elephants, giraffes… I’ll find images of things I’d like to accomplish – pictures of jewelry, words that are inspiring…
But something happened last year that made me alter how I make my vision board. I learned a new collage technique from a friend. It’s called SoulCollage®.
SoulCollage® is an intuitive, contemplative way to collage using only imagery (no words). With their technique, you make a set of cards and then read them- eliciting meaning from the images you’ve assembled.
So I decided to adopt this idea, of allowing the journey to take me, rather than control it (by looking for very specific images and words).
Instead, I chose pictures that caught my eye. I didn’t worry about finding the “right” word or picture but relaxed into the process, trusting that the ones I found were the right ones.
Here’s the important thing- I didn’t entirely do the SoulCollage® technique. I simply tweaked how I used to do vision boards.
Here’s My Board for 2021!
Before I began, I took a moment to think about the year ahead and then I added this new dimension making it more emotive, metaphoric, allowing it to arise from the unconscious, rather than being so concrete.
I did add words that appealed to me, and do have a little corner of the board that depicts things I still really want (like a ski trip.)
Once you’ve assembled all the imagery and words together, step back and really take a look at the whole board.
What is it telling you about how you want to live your year?
Perhaps what you’ll hear isn’t so much about what you will accomplish, instead it’ll be more about how you will experience your everyday life.
How does that sound?
I’m excited to see how this new technique influences 2021.
From all of my years of doing vision boards, I know they work.
At the end of each calendar year, I look back on the photos and words I put together the previous January and can see all the things that came to pass.
So be intentional, and allow your soul to sing to you about what it wants for you this year.
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photo by Gerd Altmann