As we bring one year to a close and prepare to welcome 2016, I wanted to share one of my favorite rituals for heralding in the New Year—vision boarding! I love to create vision boards because it allows me to fuse my creativity with my intentionality to create a physical representation of my hopes, dreams, and desires!
I created my first vision board a little over three years ago, and it actually wasn’t a new year board, but a travel manifestation board! Since then, I’ve made three more vision boards, each one at the end of the year to represent all the things I would like to manifest in the year ahead. As I look back at my boards from previous years, it’s definitely interesting to see which themes have stayed consistent—a happy home, a fulfilling work life, and healthy, supportive relationships—and how the details of what each of those things looks like has shifted and evolved.
This year, instead of vision boarding solo, I decided to invite a few close friends over to my place to get intentional as a group. There are many different traditions that consider full moons to be particularly powerful times for manifestation, so it only seemed appropriate to host a vision boarding party for the year ahead on the last full moon of the year! It was so cool to see how each person’s board was a unique expression of their personality, values, and hopes for 2016.
For those of you out there who think, “I’m not creative; I can’t make a vision board,” believe me—it’s easy, you absolutely can, and here’s how!
How to Make a Vision Board
I recommend going to a newsstand that has a wide variety of magazines (unless you already have a handful of magazines that you love). Select a few that really speak to your interests or have images that you find captivating. Grab a posterboard or piece of paper, some glue, scissors, and go to work.
I like to start by browsing through all of the magazines and cutting or tearing out any image that really speaks to me. There’s no need to over-think this part or try to make sense of why you’re drawn to any specific image or word. Once you feel satisfied that you’ve gathered all of the images you want, spread them out on a table or the floor and take a little time to explore them. Do you notice any themes? Similar words or images? Colors that seem to show up a lot? You don’t need to go into overdrive analyzing the words and images you chose, but reflecting on what you were drawn to can provide some insight into what your soul might be craving.
If you’ve already spent some time setting intentions for the year ahead, you can let that work guide you as you’re selecting images. You might already have an idea of what types of imagery you want to look for or you might even find images that have a personal symbolism, even if they might not seem to be obvious representations of your hopes and values.
When it comes to actually creating your vision board, there are a number of ways to do it! You can jump right in and start gluing images to your board, letting your intuition guide you on where to place each image or you can be a bit more methodical about it, if you prefer. Being the meticulous Virgo that I am, I like to place the images where I think I might want them to go before gluing to create a rough layout. This allows me to easily change up the placement if I feel like it’s not working.
Also, don’t feel like you can only use magazine images! If you want to get extra creative, feel free to add photographs, artwork, poetry, or anything else that has a special meaning for you! Paint, write, or draw directly on your board to embellish images if you want. It’s your vision, so make sure it’s something that you feel connected to.
While creating a vision board is definitely a wonderful way to kick of a new year, it’s something that you can do at any time to represent anything you wish to manifest! Want a new job? Hunting for a place to call home? Desire a super soulful relationship? Vision board it! There is something so truly powerful about taking the time to really clarify and connect with your deepest desires and then creating a visual representation of that vision. It’s definitely given my intentional living a power boost at some pivotal moments and it’s a practice I plan to continue utilizing regularly throughout the years ahead. Happy vision boarding, happy manifesting, and happy New Year, everyone!
