You know that feeling when the holiday hoopla is over but you haven’t quite returned back to your everyday world. It can be a nice dreamy, floating kind of in between time. It is a good time to reflect and think of the year upcoming and any goals or dreams you have. I am aware that this time does not last and I wanted to take advantage of that feeling so I took a “vision board” class at my local writers group this past Saturday. Even though it was raining the room filled up with dreamers and we were given poster board, glue, scissors, magazines and art supplies to create our boards. A teacher told us it is valuable to “spend one hour a year” imagining our dreams so we can manifest them. We were led in a meditation in order to dream big and “out of the box”. A strange thing happened to me: I saw myself with a microphone in hand, doing stand up comedy. Maybe I will try that once! I also plan to travel, hang out with family, friends and complete a new book in 2019. My vision board also has sketching, dancing, neuroscience, a happy dog and romance represented. I pasted an image of a woman climber standing in a very narrow crevice between two rock walls. The two words I wrote near her image are “breathe” and “smile”. Because when you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, it helps to unfreeze if you breathe and smile.
A woman at my table said that she and her husband sit down every January first and write out and share their resolutions for their joint business. She mentioned that all their goals were realized last year. Another person said all her dreams were realized also, but some took two or three years.
It seems like the important thing is that once you let yourself have a vision, and then put it down on paper, it becomes more real. I think that having a goal in the front of your consciousness strengthens the synapses that connect your wish to a reality. It is like lifting weights at the gym – your arms get stronger. In order to have my dreams more present, I posted my vision board on my wall by my desk.
While it is true that I have begun to lose that floaty feeling as we enter the second week of January and I need to send in forms and write reports and get going on daily “to do” tasks, I am glad I took advantage of that space before the usual busy-ness and will glance at my vision board once in a while for renewed inspiration.
I just received a call right now that my nephew’s girlfriend died in a tragic accident. I am shocked. It reminds me that we can make all the plans we want for the future and yes, they are more likely to manifest if we have a strong clear vision, but this is true also: Life interferes, death happens, and we cannot predict any future. We do not have control, and will be slowed in our tracks or knocked over by a cruel snowstorm. I am humbled and sad. This is the moment I am in. I have to go now.