Lead a life of your own design, on your own terms. Not one that others or the environment have scripted for you.
~ Tony Robbins
Someone once told me, “You will never get what you want unless you know what you want”. When I thought about it, I truly had no idea what I wanted….so I got quiet, asked the hard questions, and waited for the answers.
I was on the river’s edge of some critical life choices, and I was hungry for clarity on a deeper level. It was important for me to break through the constraints of what everyone else wanted/expected of me and what I wanted for myself.
Our minds respond strongly to visual stimulation, so I started there. I learned that a vision (intention/purpose) board is a rich exercise in diving deep below the surface to get clarity on your short-term goals, long-term dreams, and everything you desire in between. It can include, family, relationships, health, career, travel, community, etc. It is setting the ultimate intention to laser focus on the trajectory of your life.
The first step is doing the work to reveal what your authentic heart is yearning for, not just about things. We must push past the perceived expectations and move inward. This may take time to drill down with honesty and vulnerability.
Once identified, the real energy is next in the ‘feeling’ of the images and words. This is not a one-time “this is what I want – so universe, bring it on”. It is a deep and rich ritual in practicing a higher vibration of intention, purpose, and clarity.
I gathered magazines, images, words, and phrases, and allowed myself to react instinctively vs intellectually. Tuned in at a totally new and higher vibration, I focused on family, home, connection, love, health, and service.
This was the year I was reimagining and recreating my life… the second half.
When I started the process, we were a blended family of 5 navigating a traverse course of discovery, heartbreaks, heart openings, and unconditional love.
I knew what I wanted for myself and the family but was unsure how to create it on paper.
I started with Family and Connection.
My vision/prayer/intention was time together, a loving space, easy, honest, sacred, humble, and open to all possibilities. I pulled together images/words that captured the essence of my vision and placed the board in a space where I saw it several times a day. I made it my focus, my intention, and my silent prayer.
In the wake, our family grew closer through tough conversations and creating new memories together. We bonded over Sunday dinners in the kitchen and at the dinner table. We shared our stories as we created new chapters and traveled to new destinations as a new family together. We lost ourselves in trying to untangle the web and created new memories as we found new ways to be ourselves – together.
Fast forward – when my daughter was engaged, she and her fiancé called to say that they wanted Justin to officiate the wedding. Justin who… was my response? Well, of course, it was her stepbrother.
Justin is a successful and talented Creative Director and Writer in New York. Although Justin had zero experience in ministry and was not ordained, it was more about being together as a family. Their pure desire was to have someone they love deeply and who loves them both unconditionally be the one that brings the love to life legally and publicly. Justin was honored to be asked and procured the paperwork needed to officiate the ceremony.
There was not a dry eye in the house. Justin took his love for both as a compass for the ceremony by drawing in personal details for them individually and collectively. He called forth his own vulnerability with poetry, authentic heart shares, and humor that was undeniably the magic in the most beautiful and sacred union of two people. Again, there was not a dry eye in the house, including Justin.
Less than 2 years later Justin also married my son and his wife… for the very same reason.
Reminder: Our vision board focus was Connection and Family
Reality: We envisioned sacred space, easy, honest, and humble and it was manifested in more ways than one.
You give life to what you give energy to.
~ Unknown
Another part of our vision board was reimagining our new home together. We were specific in a contemporary style, lots of windows/natural light, high ceilings and we knew we wanted to be by the water (a little difficult in Houston Texas), but we kept the vision just the same.
Every time we traveled near any large body of water, we could feel an energetic shift in our breathing, expanding our heart space. There was an undercurrent of familiarity and HOME.
Our vision boards lived in our dressing closets where we would absorb the images and affirmations, feeling and seeing ourselves already there. We were committed to taking that precious moment to pause, reflect and hold the vision.
Our first home was contemporary in structure and nowhere near water, but we found a way. We realized there was a beautiful concrete, two-tier water fountain in our backyard. We could see the water from almost every room in the house and could hear the water pulsing up close and at a distance. It brought us back to that feeling of familiarity and home and this was close enough for us.
Our second home was in a high-rise on the 14th floor, overlooking the pool. Again, it was water and close enough for us.
A few years later as we planned to move to Portugal, we still reviewed our vision boards daily with the same intention of being by the water.
We were excited to discover a new country, new culture, and new way of ‘being’ in the world.
On our first discovery walk of a possible neighborhood, we passed by a condominium complex that was unusually and beautifully contemporary in style (somewhat unusual in Portugal). We were excited to see that this might be a possibility. I took a picture of the building and realized we had walked so far that we had no idea where we were or in what neighborhood, so I suggested we walk left down a side street.
It was less than 100 yards when we both stopped and stared at the vision in front of us and then at one another. It was the Atlantic Ocean…. Just as pictured on our vision boards. A year later we moved into our new home – the contemporary complex where I took the photo.
Our vision/Intention boards have helped us realize not just physical manifestation of ‘things’ but have tapped into the energy of the ‘feeling’ of how we want to show up in the world – individually and together.
Today, our 5 children are thriving, happy and successful, and we feel more connected than ever. We are living in Cascais Portugal with a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean and are 100 yards from the water. We walk the coast every day with full hearts and deep prayers of gratitude for the life we have manifested.
Hold the Vision. Open your Heart. Trust the Process.
