Three years ago, ahead of her move out of state, a girlfriend invited me and another friend over for some quality time. We didn’t have much on the agenda other than soaking up some precious moments together before being separated by hundreds of miles; however, my friend did pull out materials for something she carefully planned out – a vision boarding session! Stacks of magazines, containers of glue and gloss, scissors, blank canvases and tape were all at the ready.
What is Vision Boarding?
For those unaware, a vision board is a collage of images and words intended to represent and serve as motivation and inspiration for a person’s specific goals, values and wishes.
At that point in time, I had never made one before, but I had always been intrigued. A few people I knew swore by them—they created them ahead of new projects, seasons and events. Even to help guide big life decisions.
I personally had just never allowed myself to take the time or slow down enough to create one, but it was truly the perfect time to try my hand at the process of vision boarding. This was in late 2021, so mounds of uncertainty around COVID loomed, and as someone working in health care ALL the things still felt very up in the air and unfamiliar. At the same time, my kiddos and husband were in the middle of their own transitional periods, starting new schools, trying new activities, embarking on new routines.
To say new beginnings and changes were abundant would be an understatement, and the fact that some of these pivots were forced, rather than by choice, made them all hit just a little bit harder. So why not take the opportunity to let myself really dream and get honest about what I wanted to intentionally work toward?!
The Vision Boarding Process
We turned on a solid playlist, got to perusing and snipping the printed materials, and adhered them diligently to our unfinished wooden signs (our medium of choice but you can use poster boards, paper, or anything that will support where you want the vision board to end up when you’re done).
In all honesty, I think it took a moment for me to get in a groove, only because it took an actual mental shift to be like “Oh yeah, I AM in control of my life. It’s OK to be real about what I want because why the heck not. My desires are no less valuable or important than anyone else’s so why not embrace them?!”
The vision boarding is a beautiful process, because truthfully there are no rules! You use what speaks to you and place it wherever and however the heck you want! Talk about another hard concept for me to grasp.
You mean there’s no rules or guidelines?! Parameters or standards to follow?! How freeing and foreign for this quintessential rule follower.
As the evening unfolded, I inevitably found my rhythm and in the end created something that was absolutely reflective of that moment in time and where I wanted my life to go next.
I think my friends did, too, as we frequently reference them, reflecting on things from our boards that have come to fruition, and those that are still unfolding since that fun girls’ night.
The Takeaways
While on the surface, it may look like we all just walked away from that experience with some DIY crafts, in reality it was so much more. That evening of vision boarding gifted us:
- Memories we continue to cherish
- An opportunity to be creative and dream and take ownership
- A tangible takeaway of it all that we can proudly display, revisit and share
There’s no limit to how many times you can do this practice, and each time the focus can be as big or small as you want it. When I created my first-ever piece, it was VERY big picture reflecting the way I wanted to approach life in the new chapter that was unfolding, but hyper-focusing can be fun, too!
I’m overdue for a big picture one myself but also have plans to do more targeted pieces with the kiddos in my life about what we hope for in the immediate months ahead.
So whether you try vision boarding solo or opt to grab your girlfriends, your partner, your children or a mix of all of the above, just know the canvas is blank and waiting for you to bring it to life with the life you long to lead.
