Tag: Aubrey

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My mom, sister Linda and I meet every Tuesday evening, sharing a meal, working our way through the book Liver Rescue, and creating vision boards. It’s been an extended vison board party! As soon as we finish discussing important info about our livers, we clear the table and go into creative mode.

I’ve made vision boards for years. (Check out this one from 2014 and see how my boards have grown with me.) The last few years, the three of us get together and have fun chatting and laughing as we flip through magazines and cut out images and words that appeal to us. The shared experience helps each of us to focus on what we want. And we help each other search for specific pictures or phrases.

In the past, my oldest grandchild, Dayan, joined us and either created a board of his own or sketched while we cut and pasted. This year my youngest grandchild, Aubrey, created her first board.

Join the party!

What is a Vision Board?

These visual keepsakes represent what the creator desires. Writing down hopes and dreams in a journal makes them more likely to manifest. Creating a vision board ups the energy by keeping desires foremost in the mind.

A vision board, or dream board, is a collage of images, words, affirmations and phrases that expresses one’s desires. The board serves as inspiration and motivation and should be kept in a highly visible place so it can be easily seen.

Each board is as unique as its creator. We use magazines, that my mom collects all year, and glue sticks to affix the cut out words and pictures to poster boards. My mom’s hint: visit your local recycling center to see if they have magazines you can have for free.

Vision Board Party

The fun part, creating these boards as a group effort, is that we bounce ideas off each other and help to search for elusive words, phrases or pictures. I typically bring along a travel magazine, for the specific purpose of cutting out images from different countries I intend to visit. This year, I forgot to bring one.

I mentioned aloud that I needed travel images. Moments later Mom found beautiful pictures in the magazine she was flipping through, of various locations around the world. Perfect. Before that night’s party ended, I had also found the words “travel”, “explore” and the phrase “there are adventures to enjoy”. In a non-travel magazine, I even found a man in a kilt.

When looking through magazines, I suggest moving quickly and cutting out any picture, word or phrase that snags your attention. You can sort through clippings before gluing down, and discard any that don’t “bring you joy’. Clarity comes, in making choices. Often one of us will ask the other, “Do you want this?” Every yes or no sharpens focus. When it is time to glue cut outs to the poster board, the things we most desires are collected right there in neat little piles.

Here are our completed boards.

Aubrey’s Vision Board

Aubrey created her vison board on a Saturday afternoon, while spending time with me. She expressed the desire to make a board and I happily obliged. We met at Mom’s and the rest of us worked on our own boards while Aubrey looked through magazines. She asked great questions and knew what she wanted, to represent this year. I cut her board down slightly in size, at her request, so she could complete it in a couple of hours.

Aubrey’s word for 2019 is “Strength”, and her board represent her desire to be a young woman who is strong in all areas of her life. She has a deep love for animals, with dogs being her current favorite. Therefore dogs are prominently displayed on her vision board. In fact, the dog just might be her symbol for the year. These playful animals, descended from wolves, symbolize protection, loyalty, unconditional love and bravery. I love those very qualities that Aubrey possesses.

Aubrey has visual reminders to drink more water and eat healthy meals. Every word, image, phrase and symbol mean something to this bright kid. I love her vision board and that she enjoyed making one. The board tells Aubrey’s story…and the story of who she is becoming. I look forward to seeing future boards from this girl.

Linda’s Vision Board

Linda has this vision board making thing down. She knows what she wants and she finds it. Her word for 2019 is “Change”.  I noticed that Linda turns her poster board horizontally, which is perfectly fine. It’s something she does without really thinking about it. I’m sure I could find something symbolic about that!

An interesting feature of Linda’s board is the momma giraffe with her baby. Linda said she doesn’t really know why, but she feels drawn to the giraffe.

Well that’s something I CAN interpret.

The giraffe represents a different perspective on life, and the ability to see surroundings clearly, from a high vantage point. Additionally, the giraffe symbolizes self-acceptance and self-love,  important qualities for all of us to have, and perhaps something my sister is consciously or unconsciously drawn to as well. Giraffe reminds us not to waste a moment wishing to be somebody else, and to celebrate our  beautiful uniqueness.

With its long, graceful neck the giraffe encourages us to not be fearful about “sticking our necks out”. “Go after what you want”, this giraffe seems to say. “Pursue your goals and make your dreams reality.” I think Linda chose a symbol for her year, without being fully aware of why she was choosing it. That’s the power in staying open while creating a vision board.

Mom’s Vision Board

I love that my mother actively participates in so many of my adventures. She inspires me, truly. Thus, it is very fitting that her word for this year is “Inspire”. Mom inspires others through her example and in the way she lives her life. She continually learns and grows. This lady is not sitting by in her golden years, oh no. She continues to try new things. I love her adventurous spirit.

I also love that Mom, Aubrey and I all ended up with the word “queen” on our boards. We are a family of queens who know what we want and we aren’t afraid to go after our dreams. There is great power in casting forth visions and we three queens are doing just that…together. How precious to me this is.

Mom’s board captures her desire to create a haven in her backyard for birds and butterflies. Perhaps unintentionally, Mom’s symbol for this year appears to be the butterfly. The butterfly symbolizes beauty through transformation and a time of growth and expansion in life. Butterflies also represent playfulness, lightness of being and a free spirit. My mother embodies those qualities.

My Vision Board

I say this every year…and I always mean it. I LOVE MY BOARD! They come together beautifully, year after year. As I’ve shared previously, my word for 2019 is “Enchantment”. Try as I might, I could not find the word in any of the magazines I thumbed through. No problem. I created the word by cutting out the individual letters. Remarkably, I was able to accomplish that using two words I found. The rustic look of the word, arcing over a display of flowers, pleases me.

I could not find my symbol, the queen chess piece, either. However, it was easy enough to find the word, and I located a crown as well. Read about queen symbolism, for me, here.

I’m a bit of a vison board snob. All of the poster board must be covered. Gluing down the cut outs becomes a process similar to working a jigsaw puzzle. I lay out the pieces and move them around until they come together and I’m happy with the result. Then I start at the bottom and glue down each cut out.

Travel pictures and words dominate my board, as that is one of my greatest desires at this time. The typewriter represents writing/blogging. My board tells a story. It captures where I am, at this moment, and the direction I am heading.

My vision board is already hanging in my creative studio, where I can look at it frequently throughout the day.

Create Your Own Vision Board

Vision boards are easy and fun to do. A few tips:

• Collect magazines, publications or picture books throughout the year. It’s okay too to use markers, coloring pencils or pens to draw designs and write words.
• If specific pictures can’t be located, print out photos from the computer.
• Add your own photo, if desired. I’ve done this several times. I’ve also added family members to my boards.
• Purchase glue sticks during back to school sales. They are incredibly cheap then. Poster boards often end up on sale too. We use  14″x22″ acid free boards, that come in a package of 5. Don’t want to gather all the stuff? Order a Vision Board Kit.
• Feel free to add other elements, such as fabric, scrapbook cut outs, buttons, whatever makes your heart sing.
• Gather friends or family members and do this as a group project. It’s a fun way to dream together and encourage one another. Create a party atmosphere.
• Hang completed vision board up and look at it daily. Feel the emotions attached to the images and words. How we feel about something is as important as what we think.
• Most importantly…have fun. This is your board. It is a reflection of you.

I’d love to see your vision board, if you create one. Please share it with me!

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