Create Your Own Vision Board
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Have I invited you to stay in my guest room yet? Prolly I have because nothing is more delightsome that inviting people to stay a while in the guest room.
Scratch that.
Nothing is more delightsome that inviting people to stay a while in my guest room and having them actually take me up on the offer.
Which is precisely what happened at 4:43 p.m. on Friday. It started with this text convo from my baby sis…
Bethany: Are you guys at home this weekend or are you super busy?
Me: John’s in Utah! What are you doing this weekend?
Bethany: Oh I was gonna say maybe I’d come see you for the weekend. I really need my sister.
A can of Red Bull and ten hours later, my pretty Bethany peeled into the driveway, climbed under the covers of the guest room bed, and the Sister Weekend was officially underway.
Disclaimer: Bethany really hates this picture. As it turns out, I’m bigger than she is. Niener niener. And anyways, she’s adurable and my hair is in a nappy bun. The end.
While visiting last month with Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, she mentioned the inspirational value of a “Vision Board” she’d created several years ago. It was a visual representation of all she wanted her life to stand for, tiny scraps of snipped photos and phrases from magazines pieced together collage style. The paper on which she’d created her vision board proved so totally motivational that she decided to frame it and put it in a place she’d be able to see it daily.
It seems to me that we are often in transition in our lives. We are preparing for a new job, or a baby, or a diet, or the start of school, or a brand new us. Life changes. There’s always a new something on the horizon, and I truly believe we have the power to define what that change will mean to us. If we plaster words of fear or panic or doubt, we end up afraid and terrified and dubious of our own ability to shine through the change. If, however, the change is met with head held high, an open heart, a sense of adventure, how differently we approach the entire situation.
My Bethany sis is a woman in transition. So am I. Two sisters come together for a weekend to cling and cry. To laugh and lean on each other. To redefine our relationship as friends rather than simply siblings. And so, what better way to celebrate our time together than to create Vision Boards together? Eat cupcakes at midnight. Yeah, we did that, too.
We buzzed yesterday after lunch to Goodwill and picked up stacks of magazines, priced at 15 cents each. Then a quick drive to Hobby Lobby for a two-pack of canvases. Yeah, don’t say it. I’m kinda on a canvas kick over here. We already had copious amounts of ModPodge in the hizzy, so didn’t buy that. But, we did grab pretty paint, a few chipboard letters, and some scrapbook paper frames, just for good measure.
And then, we went home, watched absurd YouTube videos, and Vision Boarded the night into the morn.
Bethy’s board turned out so beautiful. A profound reflection of her quests for worthy love and a strong sense of her own strength.
Mine was “older and more controlled,” narrated Bethany. I tried to go all crazy, but found myself entirely invested in every jot and tittle that was cut and pasted about the canvas. I’m such a thirtysomething.
If you’re on board with me to lose some poundage this month, you’ve got to make yourself a vision board! If your kids are headed to school and you’re trying to center yourself, you’ve gotta make yourself a vision board! If your lost, stuck, brilliantly blissful, preparing to become a lounge singer. Whatever is going on at this point in your life, make a Vision Board! The very practice of finding photos and words which catch your eye, the movement of your shoulders over the shiny pages of an old magazine, the snip of scissors, the cool smell of ModPodge. This really is a worthwhile activity. One that will define your journey down the next little path of days with words, pictures, reminders of what matters most to you. As it turns out, I think Jesus said it best when he reminded, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34)
Dear sis, You are one of my treasures.
Leave a comment for my little sis! If you could be 22 again, what advice would you give yourself? I’d love to offer up your tidings of twentysomething advice for that pretty darling of mine.
Joining us on the Slow Carb Diet this month? Here's this week's super simple grocery shopping list! PROTEINS LEGUMES GREEN VEGGIES & HERBS Stay tuned for a week full of fun & simple recipes!
Slow Carb Diet Shopping List, Week Two
Ingredients:
-1 carton Egg Beaters Egg Whites
-2-3 pounds chicken breasts
-2 pounds tilapia
-Raw Almonds
-Lentils
-Black Beans
-White Northern Beans
-1 large carton of spinach
-1 bunch Asparagus
-2 bunches broccoli
-3 red, yellow, or green bell peppers
-1 Purple Onion
-Fresh basil
-Minced Garlic
-3 Lemons
-1 LimeDirections:
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Deltha on August 22, 2011 at 6:11 am
Use your time right now to just be. Find out who you are and don’t look to someone else to define that. Invest in yourself, your knowledge, your experiences and your body. Your thirtys will be here before you know it and they are much better than your twenties. Use this time to prepare yourself for life instead of trying to live it all right now.
Monica on August 22, 2011 at 7:52 am
Love yourself. Accept your faults and know that is what makes you unique! Improve yourself everyday, so you can be the best version of YOU! And you are the only person that can truly make you happy! Ohhh, if I could go back to 22 I would do so many things different.
v. blanchard on August 22, 2011 at 8:04 am
Take care of yourself. As well as you would take care of a daughter, sister, or best friend. And find ways to restore your confidence and sense of competence in life. In a book I just read (“Giving Birth”, actually), someone said, “When people feel competent and confident, they take good care of themselves and their families.”
Chris at Hye Thyme Cafe on August 22, 2011 at 11:27 am
Have you guys checked out Pinterest.com? Vision boards are exactly what I thought of when I saw it. If you see something online that you like, you “pin” it to a board. Of course you can’t hang them on your wall for constant inspiration (well, you could probably print them?), but they’re there for inspiration whenever you’re online. :)
So far, I’m just pinning stuff I like, but I plan on setting one up as more of a “to do” inspiration board soon.
Katrina on August 22, 2011 at 11:41 am
I love your vision boards! So inspirational. Love it!
Sarah T. (Team Trader Mom) on August 22, 2011 at 11:53 am
Stop searching for love. I spent so much of my 20′s trying to find the right man. If I had instead focused on finding and loving ME, I would have been much happier (and, probably found the right man sooner).
Janeen on August 22, 2011 at 2:10 pm
My 20s were rough. Mistakes abounded and what I thought mattered never really did in the big picture. What I learned more than anything is to stop trying so hard. That doesn’t mean stop trying but don’t push outcomes to be what you want them to be. Approach all of the walls you run into in life with an open mind because the walls are there because you are on the wrong path. It took me years to figure that out and it is not an easy lesson [especially for an OCD type-A that has to plan everything]. Love yourself and the people in your life that matter will love you for being you. If they don’t, they never really loved you to begin with.
Bev Weidner on August 22, 2011 at 3:23 pm
I just love this! I’m wondering though if I drink wine, will my vision board be blurry?
Yep, probably so.
Kate on August 22, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Well I’m 21 right now, so your sister and I are stuck in the same difficult decade! I think the best advice that I’ve received recently is to know that when you’re 21 (or 22) you don’t have to have it all figured out – you’re allowed to make huge mistakes, have too much debt from college, not have a “real” job, and not meet the right man at the right time. It’s a relief to know that no one expects a young 20-something to have their life together instantly, so just relax and enjoy the ride :)
Annie on August 22, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Laugh. A lot. Don’t take yourself or life too seriously.
Betsy on August 22, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Dear Bethany: Everyone will tell you that you have SO much life ahead of you. Please listen. :-) At 22, I felt like no one knew what I was going through, that I was SO OLD to be at THAT POINT in my life (uh, I was a teeny bit dramatic at 22). At 34, I see how young I was then. How much time I truly had to figure things out. Live every minute. Don’t waste a second on people who don’t bring you joy – that’s really my best advice. Best wishes for a happy you. :-)
Ann on August 22, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Words of wisdom to a 22 year old? You are SO young! You have an entire lifetime ahead of you! The road may be smooth, it may get bumpy, but there are so many wonderful moments ahead that await you! There will ALWAYS be transition – so embrace it, don’t fret over it – just do the right thing, trust in God and let Him escort you through it. Don’t worry about anything. Most of the things we worry about never happen anyway! Tell the people you love that you love them – all the time. Do special things for them. My dad died nearly 4 years ago, my mother-in-law died one year ago, and my mother died suddenly on May 5th of this year. I miss them all terribly and wish I could talk to them all now just to tell them how very dear they were to me – just one more time. Thank God everyday for your sisters. I had one who died when we were kids. I have always longed for the friendship I would have had with her. I know we would have been best buddies! I wish she would have been here to share this journey with me. Lastly, never cry over a man or a job. It’s not worth it and looking back you will see why and be thankful it didn’t work out. Something or someone magnificent will come along leaving you to think, “Why was I crying about that?” I am 51 years old, married to a truly wonderful man for the past 29 years, so believe me, I DO know these things!
Jenelle on August 24, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Great idea Brooke! I def need to do one of these. This is perfect for my life right now. :-)
MOM on August 30, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Don’t try to pick up the pieces, Let them stay on the ground, in the past………..
I PROMISE the pain won’t last!
Each New Day, Promises a New Way —-to Pave a New Dream
It may Seem, Dreams don’t or won’t come true
I PROMISE they do! SO DREAM BIG!!
lOVE, MOM