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When our dreams are up in the air, floating around like barely-formed wisps in our minds and hearts, they can allude us, drifting about like dandelion wishes, seeming just as insubstantial. When we give our dreams a form, a voice, when we put our ideas to paper or articulate them in some way, we remind ourselves what is worth striving for, making it possible to see clearly what we want and even the steps we need to take to get there.
A few years ago, a friend of a friend, who also happened to be a life coach, was offering a quick course in “realizing your dreams”, part of which involved creating a vision board. At the time, I had a full plate – pregnant, caring for a toddler, working part-time, going to grad school and moving – I really didn’t have time to add this extra, very personal “me” time to my schedule.
Despite (or perhaps because of) being so overwhelmed, I knew that something in my life was lacking and something needed to be done about it. I enrolled in the course and over the few weeks I squeezed in the time (at night, during nap time, before and after packing and papers) to collage a large, bright circle of a vision board, each color-coordinated wedge split into a category that stood for something I hoped to achieve in my life, something that I wanted to come to fruition.
There was nothing particularly new about the hopes and dreams pasted onto that board – writing, traveling, learning, loving, playing, living lightly – but seeing them in a bold and tangible form gave a bold and tangible form to my goals. I saw the things I was striving for, a reminder of what I hoped to accomplish and needed to work towards, and each time I passed it, I had a daily dose of what I hoped to accomplish in my life every day, as the vision board had a spot not just for far-off ideas but for ideas rooted in the here and now.
Giving Shape To Your Dreams
Not everyone has the type of personality that gravitates towards collaged vision boards, for example, but everyone can benefit from giving shape to their dreams. You may be a highly organized person, who would benefit more from writing your hopes and wishes out in the form of a to-do list, categorizing in a less artsy way the steps needed, from the smallest to the largest, to accomplish them (or perhaps a bright, creative, messy way is just the form you need!).
You may benefit from posting some simple, daily reminders (love, laugh, be present) around your home in key spots. You might try saying out loud something you’d like to strive for each day, or repeat to yourself the step of each goal daily until you are ready to take the next step.
However you do it, give voice, shape, presence to those things that so often get pushed to the back, shoved aside, those things that lose precedence when compared with the daily to-do lists of life. It is never too late, and one can never be too busy, to give shape and voice to what we truly hope and dream for.
[Photo Credit: Rocky Mountain High]
Rachel contribute to the site because, with all the negativity and fear being broadcast these days, everyone could use a reminder of the wonder and joy that is always around us, if we only take the time and make the effort to see it.