Want to dive in deeper? Check out this more detailed article on Creating a Digital Vision Board to Inspire Your Travel Dreams.
One of my favorite ways to generate excitement about life is through the creation of a vision board. Not only is the process simple and fun, but the final product serves as a source of perpetual inspiration; as images of your dreams manifesting around you.
Have you ever experienced the power a beautiful image has to move you? I used to love thumbing through National Geographic magazines, in awe over the breathtaking pictures with each turn of a page. And back in my days as a gym rat I would find inspiration by flipping the pages of fitness magazines while on the cardio equipment, envisioning the body I was cultivating. Now-a-days, even though I am much more discriminating about how I spend my time, I still make space in my life to find images that move me.
Creating a vision board is a great way to intentionally create a visual aid for your personal growth. You can create a board with a specific topic in mind, such as your health or your home space, or you can create a board having to do with all aspects of your life.
I created my first board with a few simple items: a large piece of poster-board, glue, scissors, stacks of magazines I had gathered from the recycling center and friends, and hours of imagination. Over the span of a few weeks I would flip through the magazines whenever I felt moved to do so and cut out the images and even some words that excited me. There were a few images I knew I wanted on there, so I made a point of seeking them out after I had sifted through all my gathered magazines. Then, on another inspired day, I went about deciding which of my chosen images would make it on my vision board, laying them out in a way that felt right for me before gluing them on and taking the board to my local office supply store to be laminated.
Since that first board, I have created many more, but instead of gathering images from magazines, I have gathered them online. I now assemble my vision boards virtually and make them my desktop background. This does not take up space and I have the images in front of me to inspire me daily.
So there are a number of ways to go about compiling visual inspiration. Perhaps you would rather get a cork board and pin images up as you find them, or you could use a magnetic board or surface such as your fridge.
Motivational speaker Jim Rohn holds the idea that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with car accident lawyers and the law of averages would agree. By deliberately choosing not only the people we surround ourselves with, but the situations we put ourselves in, the environment we choose to live in, and so on right down to the last detail, we can actively create the reality unfolding around us. Having a vision board to look at regularly, much like reading a book by an author that you resonate with, is a way to get intimate with inspiration that you may not otherwise be able to access.
Although I have gotten rid of the physical form of my first vision board, I have kept a digital copy of that one and all the others to follow. It is not always apparent how the meaning of a certain image will unfold in your life, but rest assured each plays a purpose, and it is fun to look back and reflect on how certain things played out.
Whether you decide to dive right into this project or even if creating a vision board does not excite you at the moment, I invite you to make a point of paying attention to the what you are choosing to look at daily. Are these visions adding to your life or just crowding your sight? Make space and allow yourself to see clearly the dreams you want to unfold.