I’ve been on the vision board band wagon for a much longer time than most. Back in 2006 when the Secret first came out, I was introduced to the idea of the law of attraction, the law of abundance, and the fact that thoughts become things.
Just like everyone else, I got excited about ‘how easy’ it would be to create the life I wanted now that I knew the Secret. And just like everyone else, I quickly realized that though the Secret was absolute truth, getting my mind to cooperate fully was a journey of layers and layers of uncovering — and not as easy as I naively thought it would be.
The pure essence of the truth that feelings attract like feelings (and therefore the things that are associated with triggering those feelings) is simple, complex, and profound. Sometimes our brains need an equally seemingly simple yet complex and profound way to harness that truth. This is what vision boards are.
A vision board creates a gateway to feelings we want to have by placing the things you associate with those feelings in plain sight, jazzed up in a way that delights on its own. Its whole purpose is to ignite what it feels like having this or that thing. In that way, you create the energetic pull that brings that thing out of ‘maybe’ into reality. It really is that simple.
However, it does create a chicken/egg type of conundrum. Does the elatedness come first and then the thing? Does the thought of the thing coming cause the elatedness? Must you get ridiculously and randomly happy first and then start making your orders of the Universe?
In my experience, these are the thoughts that can potentially kill the entire experience. Within these thoughts are doubt, judgement, and fear — all negative feelings that move you away from an intrinsic appreciation of the activity itself. Vision Boards don’t have to be about the outcome and in their essence aren’t about ‘doing it right’. That stress is unwanted and counter-productive. Instead I’ve come to realize that vision boards are much more about ‘doing right by yourself’ and taking a massive step forward in your own self care.
This is what I mean. When you set aside time to create a vision board, this is what you are saying:
1. you are firstly affirming to yourself that you are important enough to make time for and to plan for.
2. You are affirming that you have goals and desires that are important.
3. You are affirming that you believe enough in yourself that these are worth thinking about in a positive way.
4. You are putting a concrete belief forward that your future could be brighter and more fulfilling than your present.
This is radical self care. This is what self care really is — the supporting of yourself in a way that reminds you constantly that you are worthy, important, and favored by the Universe.
This is why creating a Vision Board can be a very powerful form of self care, especially when you create it with a conscious awareness of the intentions you are setting in place — not just for the things that you want to see manifest — but also for the way you see and care for yourself.
There are many reasons to decide to make the time to create a Vision Board — when you need a reboot and a rebalance, when you need to remember the possibilities in life, when you need to refocus yourself and employ the three Rs — refreshment, renewal, rejuvenation. One of the most impactful reasons to be conscious of however is to remember your own worth and light!
Originally published at www.leahpatterson.com.
Originally published at medium.com