Creating a Computerized Vision Board

For years my vision board was kept on a cork board with push pins or a foam board with glue. Honestly, I still use a cork board in my office and have two foam vision boards sitting in my storage room I can’t seem to throw away. Years back, every December, I taught vision board workshops for two reasons. I loved hearing the participant’s creative laughter and the unique dreams being born.

A vision board is a personalized piece of art. The decoupage design normally represents a random mix of pictures gathered to represent what you want to attract into your life. It’s a story that can represent multiple segments of life or even be focused on a single area. The designer has the option of what materials to build their narrative on. Three common choices are cork board for its easy push pin maneuverability, poster paper for its inexpensiveness, or foam board with its sturdy prop up ability.

This isn’t about any of these options right now. Instead, let’s talk about using the computer and creating a vision board. Like the other options, using a computer has its own set of creative options.

Last December, while in a creative mood, I began fooling around with my new Microsoft OneNote software to design a new vision board. If it worked, it would save time and materials costs plus create a better representation of what I truly wanted to attract. I was definitely stoked. OneNote’s clip feature could capture anything I wanted from the Internet. Now, I had an unlimited amount of art, pictures, words, and fonts to choose from whereas before I was limited to what I could cut out from magazines. It was exciting to be able to better match exact images of what was swirling around in my mind.

The first few creations I completed in OneNote were overzealous and too large to print on a standard size sheet. It was difficult to calculate the bottom of a standard page since OneNote doesn’t show you where that is.

Out of curiosity I tried creating a vision board in MS Word. Word was clumsy and too difficult to arrange the pictures and layout. I was limited on what images I could capture to clip art or pictures I already had on my computer.

So next I tried using Microsoft’s Publisher. Publisher maneuvered everything well; allowing easy layering, grouping and image angling. It allowed me to know the printable page size and margins. Then I put two of them together. I created the vision map using Publisher and used OneNote’s clip feature to grab images from the Internet and then cut and paste into Publisher.

After this I realized the name vision board no longer fit. Instead, I now call them vision maps.

My creativity continued to bloom with new ideas over the next few months. Soon, I found myself designing one area of my life vision maps. First health. Another for what I wanted to attract in my business. Then where I wanted to travel if I had unlimited funds and other personal goals and visions.

After this, I began creating maps from experiences…like a previous vacation and the last Tony Robbins event I attended. It was like scrapbooking but without the material costs or limitations of what was sold in the art store.

Another single purpose map was about the RV I wanted to own and travel in. This map included pictures of the inside and outside of the RV and some of the little details I wanted it to have, like a desk for my writing. Another vision map showed the route I wanted to travel and the places I wanted to stay. Another about the lightweight car I needed to tow with it.

I did print the maps out when I was done on my color printer. To keep the maps organized, I place them in a three-ring binder with theme tabs. I designed a cover insert for the binder with a beachfront sunrise in the background and an RV in the foreground.

As I progressed through this process, an even bigger payoff arrived. It was a true surprise and gift.

Here’s what happened…

It was when I badly needed a space break after working long daily hours, every day of the week, for months. Starbucks came to mind. As I began to walk out the door, I turned around thinking I was forgetting something. I spotted the vision binder on the table. I grabbed it not knowing why and left.

Frappuccino in hand, in an overstuffed chair in Starbucks, I opened the binder. I was awe struck. It was as if someone else created theses beautiful stories and I was seeing them for the first time. With my eyes closed, I rested my right on the first map. My arms grew warm and goose bumps appeared. Then a cold sensation ran down my back and legs and into the floor. The contrast of warmth and cold kept me still and enjoying the sensation for some time. This was a true vibrational moment.

Now, my binder travels with me frequently – to waiting rooms, beaches, airplanes, to meetings, and seminars – for additional vibrational moments. I’m never conce
ed about losing the binder because every map is just a print away; however, inside the cover I’ve added this note: “Thank you for finding this binder, I thank you. It is important to me because it represents my desires in life. If you return the binder, I will provide you with the directions on how to create your own and my story on how it’s changed my life.”

Just recently, I’ve added some blank paper to the back of the binder. I use the pages to doodle ideas for future maps.