2023 is wrapping up and the plans for 2024 are in process. I’m not much of a goal setter, never have been. I don’t feel the draw to make them. Working to capture or emulate a feeling is more my speed. The same way I struggled with creating affirmations, I avoided vision boards. I didn’t want to be limited by what I could find in magazines or other physical media to create one. My first vision board came in 2017, I can’t remember what sparked it exactly. Maybe I figured I would give it a shot, what the hell. I made it in March, yes, the year was underway but you can start whenever you want. I decided to create it digitally, I could pull from anything. That’s been my way ever since.
My vision board format has anchors in the four corners, words or images related to the year’s focus. Images in between for support or secondary focuses. Also, a main middle image, meant to represent the energy I want to embody. Unsurprisingly, if you’ve read previous posts, several years featured varying pictures of Beyoncé. I found an elaborate red door image in December of 2019 on Pinterest, I wanted to know what was on the other side. The other side of me digging to find myself. What will it be like if I embody everything shown here? That 2020 board was a shift, it was also the year I spent mostly behind doors as did the rest of the world. The “over dress” corner did not come to be. Last year was the first time I put myself in the middle. Purposefully calling everything pictured directly into me.
I tend to reuse photos or concepts. One year isn’t always enough to fully tap into or make something a part of yourself. The constant every year is this quote: “I learned that I could be both wild and holy” by Ana Forrest. I know nothing about her, but that quote is the absolute truth. Fitting for those of us who grew up in church, fits right in with Bey’s “CHURCH GIRL”. I can be “wild”, fully enjoying all facets of life, and be “holy”, listening to and guided by the spirits, the Creator, the universe. I won’t be abandoned or deserted for having the nerve to experience life’s pleasures. No one who matters at the Spirit Party will be clutching their pearls and fainting. I will always include that quote, it explains me well.
Looking over each vision board and I notice a trend; I’ve been pleading with myself for years to be kinder to me. I know it’s counterproductive to be cruel to yourself, but I am my biggest critic. Maybe I have to move from critical to accountable? The energy is right but I’m using it wrong. Confidence and self-improvement are clearly long-term journeys for me. I always fill the boards with what I want to be, how I want to move, speak, and feel. The elements that I feel lead to my higher self.
Usually the four anchors easily find me. This year the only thing that came to me, a 2023 carryover, was discipline. Applying discipline to my life, while avoiding rigidity, helped me reach a goal. I said I don’t set goals but this one was very specific and easily measurable. I want to continue to apply discipline to other parts of my life. Last year ‘balance’, ‘kindness’, and ‘confident’ rounded out the foundation. This year I struggled with other words or descriptors. The concrete and abstract are at play now, it’s like I’m building a new foundation perhaps.
I want to put real thought into exploring costume design, not just overwhelming myself with a “what-if” to-do list. Embrace my messy/mildly chaotic weirdness, my awkwardness. It’s part of what makes me uniquely me. Requiring myself to dedicate time to my creative outlets, pole, learning to sketch, painting, reading. I’ve vowed to be more spiritually obedient; consistency here will do so much for me. Being honest with myself as I further define myself and what I want for my life. Awareness of my progress as it happens, have to learn to appreciate and acknowledge the journey.
Soooo how do I put that on a vision board? Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram give me a lot of inspiration. All year I collect things that resonate with me. “Over Dress” has four straight years of prime real estate, still working on it. A lot of 2020, that absolutely devastating mess, moved to 2021. I have my usual mix of pictures that serve as representatives, a handful of tweets from people more daring or eloquent than me, along with quotes and poems. I’m starting with about 100 pieces of media and narrowing down to whatever I can’t live without. Adobe Illustrator and I are familiar with this process. I can’t force anything, even if I love it on its own. Everything has to flow seamlessly or it’s a no go. Below is the finished product.
I’ll have it printed and mounted (2023 too, I never got around to that) and display it in my bedroom. Additionally, I’ll update my laptop backgrounds to the current year as well. Multiple locations keep the intentions at the forefront of my mind, thank you to my therapist for that suggestion two or three years ago. Have you ever made a vision board or plan to? Where do you or would you display it? Let me know in the comments!
