Dream, Visualize, Plan, Believe, Act

To accomplish great things we must first dream, then visualize, then plan . . . believe . . . act! Alfred A. Montapert

Last Saturday, Alley Art Studio was abuzz with women creating personalized vision boards. Our day started at 10 AM, when we did a breathing, stretching, and relaxation exercise to help get us into the right frame of mind. I had also asked the ladies in advance of our gathering to come up with a word they want to focus on for the year, and we each revealed our word during our open sharing time.

Destree, who helped me with set-up for the day, led us in an exercise called Five Bold Steps (something she created and designed!). The purpose of the exercise was to help us identify our goals and dreams for the new year, list our supports and challenges, and finally, come up with specific steps we can take to help us achieve our intentions. And then all hell broke loose when we brought out the magazines!

We had snacks upon arrival, then around 12:30 we shared a salad potluck.



After lunch, it was time to begin laying out and gluing our vision boards.






At the end of the afternoon, we shared our creations with each other, highlighting why we choose certain images.


Here are some of the completed boards in various stages of completion (some women planned to finish their boards at home . . .). Words of the year included: Abundance, Independence, Consistency, Fresh, Strength, Believe, Creative, Emerge, and Balance.











And here's the happy gang of Vision Boarders!


Sometimes when I do a blog post, I like to post a few of the comments that people left about the class. Here's a sampling:

I loved the class, Dayna! . . . I am thrilled with what I came away with and am working on my board this week to round it out. It's so important - it's a tool I use all year long, so giving intense attention to it when creating is a-ok with me!

Your class, as usual, was wonderful! The class left a lot of room for creativity within a focused environment. . . . The potluck was a fun option! I thought that the stretching and reading both gave a way to focus on the task at hand and opened our minds to the possibilities that stretched before us. I appreciated the Five Bold Steps activity and this helped me to feel more focused on drawing me to the symbols that will represent my wishes for the new year and beyond.

Your class was just what the doctor ordered for my stressed out life! It allowed me to take a breath, get centered, and focus on the looming tasks at hand. Thank you for a splendid Saturday.

I loved it as always. I love readings, stretching and such. I like that it is informal and personal and I even like the idea of shared food.

It was truly a great day -- and I was able to work on my own vision board the next day. My word? Fearless. My board? Here it is. Can you figure out what my intentions are for the new year? There are six . . . .

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung