Vision and creativity

 

Many years back someone told me that I should make a vision board.  I was not convinced.  My mental health was suffering and I considered this to be some kind of hype or maybe a quick fix.  Either way I nodded agreement at the idea and it was not until a few months later when I felt a creative spark ignite within me that I pondered on it.

This rare creative energy was not to be wasted and so I set to work using a large no glass, simple frame from Ikea.  I found glue, a range of magazines and old newspapers and I put on some favourite tunes.  I can't honestly say that my creative juices were flowing but I felt interested in where this would go and how it might look.

I even got out some old photographs and noticed something - the holiday photos I like the best are those which are just very mundane, say a street, a bus stop or a simple horizon.  I studied these pictures and realised that perhaps I had an eye for the everyday, that maybe at a carnival I would be the one to look away from the parade and notice a street cat.

So before even putting anything on to the frame, I was thinking, noticing and getting to know myself a little more, out of the context of 'mental health', I was just me with an ability of seeing the beauty perhaps in the monotony of time.

The title I gave the frame was 'the circle of life'.  Now, the whole point of the vision board is awareness of goals, aspirations and hope for the future.  I felt like I was kind of going back the way, reflecting and feeling emotions that I did not want to experience such as guilt and regret.  It then occurred, there are no official vision board rules. I could make it anyway I liked and this was a great liberation....

So it ends up being this mix and match frame full with family photos, magazine cuttings, words and headings.  I feel exhausted after completing it.  I place it on my wall and do not over fixate on it and it actually becomes part of the furniture - it is there for years.

I got the best out of this process in the 'making' of it.  Instead of looking ahead I was reminded of who I am, where I've been and what appeals.  This is good enough for me and my creative spark!

A few years on, my daughter and I visited Budapest for a few days for a family break.  My mental health had improved a bit, and on the second day I got a strong feeling of 'deja vu'.  We were near the Danube river sipping on some Hungarian sparkly while the trams passed.  It was a pleasant feeling, almost happiness I'd say....

Later on back home I saw it on the vision board - I had cut out an image of Budapest with the distinctive trams.  At this realisation I felt quite elated as if some kind of magic had been at work in my life.  I was bold enough to congratulate myself on this and believe the subconsciousness is a very powerful tool we possess. 

Even while writing this I am reminded of an image from the board of a family member where I placed a small picture of a sign post with 'surf' written on it.  Back in summer we had a day at the beach, not surfing exactly but messing around with boogie boards and I laughed that day as I have not done in a long time.

Life is maybe a sequence of coincidence or inter-connections but I feel pleased that this vision board made me think and was in tune to an extent towards future accomplishments, goals and feelings.

So there is no big miracle at work, only you, instinct, creativity and courage.  If you give it a go, let me know, I would love you to share!

Paula Smith