Saturday, February 13, 2010

Vision Board: Whatever you focus on – that's what you get!

A vision board is a collage of images and words that represents ones dreams and desires. Using magazines, words/sayings and personal photos you create a fascinating glimpse of what you wish for in your life.

I started making vision boards about 15 years ago because my friend Kath had them in strategic places around her house. She swore by them. So when I was at the beach for a few days, I built one. Once home, I tacked it up on the wall next to my bed so it was the first thing I looked at when I opened my eyes in the morning.

Waking up to a vision board is a great way to focus on positive dreams and desires. I’d slowly wake up viewing the board and think about what my focus should be that day. Maybe it would be exercise and reaching out to a friend or art and being more charitable. It changed daily and I had a wealth of ideas from which to choose.

I was so taken by this process that I started teaching one-day workshops. A group of women (I’ve never had a man in the class, but would love to) come together. They bring their favorite magazines, photos, saying. They find “their spot” in the room or out on a deck and go to work. We don’t talk much as it dissipates the attention to the process. We do listen to music. Participants look through magazines, cut out pictures and words and then they paste the collage together. The process takes about 5-6 hours. When we are finished, we spend some time talking about what we have created and what we want to accomplish in the next year or so.

There is no artistic skill involved in building a vision board. It’s PURE FUN and the process has the capacity to tap into those deep parts of your being. Having the time and space to create a vision board – it’s amazingly beneficial for clarity in ones life. I’ve run into numerous participants six months to two years after a workshop and heard raves about the number of areas that have improved in their lives. Of course, the areas that had improved were the ones that they focused on because they looked at their boards daily.

This is such a fun workshop. I’m teaching it in April at the community college here in Corvallis. I also facilitate these workshops for groups of women. You put the group together, I will come do the workshop. Using your vision board daily inspires you to move in the direction of your dreams and desires.


More info at janweir.net


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Thought #7: Going Deeper

I use to conduct full-day technology workshops for teachers. Teachers are a lively bunch; they seldom get adult conversation since they spend their days with kids. So putting 25 teachers in a room together and trying to get them to listen can be nerve-racking. One really needs to be “on”.

20 years ago when I first started teaching, I had this feeling that I was on the surface. I wasn’t quite getting my point across, I wasn’t quite connecting on the level I needed to be clear and successful.

Then one day, while trying to explain something to a group, I felt myself going deeper. I took this breath, waited a moment and then drop down to the next level. Thought was clearer there. Time slowed down and I watched myself choosing just the right words, pausing at the right place for effect; it was quiet there. I tapped into the place where extraordinary things happen. This must be the place that athletes call the zone.

Since then I’ve been figuring out how to voluntarily go deeper. It’s such a cool place to hang out. I go there when I draw, garden, mediate, scull, shower and journal. These are all quiet activities but I suspect that they clear the way for me to go deeper in the midst of some busy activity where I need to get smarter and clearer very quickly. I do find I can get there quicker now that I know how it feels and how much more effective I can be.