At one point last year I was
seriously starting to feel like a fraud.
I knew all the benefits of journaling, had used a journal years ago at
various times, was recommending the process to friends and customers, but I was
struggling to make the process personally relevant. There was something stopping me from writing
down my inner most thoughts. I knew that
I wanted to, but just couldn’t seem to make a start.
Then along came Soli from “Journal
Junky” with her gorgeous leather bound journals and mentioned that she was
going to run a “Vision Board Workshop”.
This sounded interesting! It really
appealed to me… perhaps because it was something visual that didn’t involve
writing.
I knew enough about vision
boards and the 'Law of Attraction' to have faith in the process, and I also know
myself well enough to acknowledge and accept that I work better in a group
situation than when left to my own devices.
It was a little scary hitting that “buy now” button as I signed up for
the 2 part workshop. It was ages since
I’d stepped out of my comfort zone to learn something new, ages since I’d met
new people in this kind of group situation, and ages since I’d allowed myself
to dream about what I really wanted in life.
So the process involved some
chatting, some guided relaxation/meditation, some questions to get us focussed,
and some time to jot down our thoughts and responses within some broad areas.
Soli explained to us about
the “Creative Process” which involved…
Asking, Believing, Taking
Inspired Action (leap of faith), Relaxing and Allowing the Process (surrendering),
Receiving (being open to receive) and Enjoying (being grateful for the now).
We were encouraged to dream
huge, to be open to new possibilities and new ideas, and to be prepared to be
surprised. She encouraged us to think
about what we truly wanted to achieve, and prompted us to think about why… and
asked how we would FEEL when we had received or achieved what we truly wanted.
We had 10 aspects of life to
address…
Body/Self
Home
Work & Study
Romantic Relationship
Family Relationships
Friends, Fun & Social
Travel & Adventure
Finances
Legacy & Contributions
Ideal Lifestyle
She asked questions to focus
our thinking and dreaming in each of these areas, and then gave us time to jot
down some ideas and words to help us to really figure out what our values/needs
were in each of these parts of our lives. There was no right or wrong answers,
no judgement, and I was a little surprised to find that the overriding theme
for my jottings was “peace”. I came home
totally inspired and excited and started searching for pictures in magazines to
represent my ideas.
I’m a terrible magazine
hoarder (yep! And now a self confessed Pinterest addict!!! Go figure!) but I was in the process of
‘letting go’ of some of the older ones, so this gave me the perfect opportunity
to rip out pictures and words with a real sense of purpose. And what I discovered in this process is that
I was really drawn to the words and phrases more than the pictures… somewhat
surprising for someone who thought of herself as a visual person!
So I ripped and ripped, and
cut and pasted and got so carried away with the joy of creating something not
only visually pleasing, but something that was bringing me clarity and focus,
that I was finished before the 2nd workshop, (where we were supposed
to assemble our boards), had even started.
In fact I had so many great leftover pictures that I couldn’t fit into
my frame, that I started working on a folder of images that I loved.
I found a frame that I loved
that had 12 openings for photos, so I changed things around a bit. I added a box for my dream garden because
that is a really important part of my life, and I added a box to hold a quote
that I loved about PEACE which has travelled with me for years, and I ended up
with a great Vision Board that is still hanging above my desk in the dining
room, and is still very relevant.
I did initially struggle
with feeling like the ‘dreaming big’ meant that I wasn’t grateful for what I
currently had in my life. Was dreaming
of the ‘perfect house’ with the ‘perfect pantry’ implying that I didn’t feel
extremely grateful for having a perfectly adequate roof over my head? A family property had been made available to
me when I needed something urgently and I didn’t want to appear ungrateful or
unhappy with my current situation. After
lots of chatting with friends and family, I decided that it was all OK. It was
possible to be grateful and have dreams at the same time. In fact, being grateful was an intrinsic part
of the manifestation process.
So did it “work”?? Yes, and I think it still is working! When I look at the board, I feel more
focussed and reminded of where I’m heading.
Most of my categories were reasonably long Some of the phrases were a little 'tongue in cheek', like “Garden of the Year”. That had been a bit of a family joke when I’d moved in here that I would work hard and transform the terribly neglected and overgrown garden into something resembling a magazine competition winning garden. We’re not quite there yet, but WOW! There have been some major changes and improvements made, and they will continue as the garden evolves.
Do I have my perfect “dream
home” with character, the perfect pantry and a home that’s free of
clutter? Well… I’m extremely grateful to
have a great house to live in which has family history and charm, (and lots of
cracks and imperfections!), there’s still clutter but we’re working on it
slowly, and YES! I finally have the
“perfect pantry”… the perfect solution for this house! Definitely not a walk in butler’s pantry of
my ultimate pantry dreams, but absolutely perfect for this house, and for
now.
My little family of 3 is
complete now with my partner moving over from interstate… and while there have
been adjustments that all 3 of us have had to make, it’s certainly a big
positive step on from where we were 12 months ago. We’ve already had some travel adventures
together, and there will be many more to come in the future, and we are
learning together to stop and smell the roses!
My business “Precious
Gorgeous” has finally become ‘real’. I
am following my heart and I’m taking some giant strides creatively and
emotionally. I’m challenging my own
thinking about limiting beliefs around money and income, and about hobby versus
business.
My personal journey of
“clearing the clutter” lead to the creation of my Facebook page “Letting Go of
Clutter. Finding Peace.”, and in time, my blog of the same name has
followed. Finally the writing block had
been shifted! And I give credit to Soli
and her processes for giving me the direction, encouragement and safe
environment to discover what I really wanted to do. I also did another workshop with her called
“Clearing the Emotional Clutter” which I think helped immensely too, even
though it wasn’t entirely obvious at the end of the workshop.
And after years of me joking
about writing a book one day, I recently came home from holidays and had a
sleepless night as a children’s picture book came to life in my head begging me
to write it down as soon as I got up in the morning. Maybe there really will be a book one day…
but very different to the one that I had imagined, which reminds me that the
creative process is all about relaxing and allowing, receiving and being open
to new possibilities!
I was planning to pull apart
this vision board to make room for a new one, but on reflection I think that
it’s all still relevant. I think I will
choose a couple of aspects perhaps to expand on now as there have been some
shifts in thinking, and clarification of values and priorities over the last
few months. So there might be an
additional mini vision board coming soon.
By focussing on how I would
FEEL if my life looked like the vision board, I realise that the words and
pictures are a representation of how I want to FEEL, and of my values around
each of those aspects of my life, and because of that, what constitutes a
‘perfect pantry’ here will look different in a new house in the future, but my
intentions in my “legacy” box will probably remain the same for many years into
the future and may never change… “cares for the environment” and “making a
difference” are phrases that I hope will be applicable for the foreseeable
future! And you can bet that wherever I
live, I’ll be aiming for that “Garden of the Year”!
