I’m posting this last post in the series today in case you’d prefer to create your Vision Board on New Year’s Eve instead of New Year’s Day and I’m including excerpts from my book, The Little Spark–30 Ways to Ignite Your Creativity.

You know what I tell people to do to prepare for my Vision Board workshops? Nothing. I ask them to become empty–to, as the 12th century Sufi mystic poet, Rumi, so beautifully wrote,

“Try and be a sheet of paper with nothing on it. 

Be a spot of ground where nothing is growing,

where something might be planted,

a seed, possibly, from the absolute.”

When you come to this exercise you want to be empty of preconceptions so that you can keenly tune in to your heart without the tampering, meddling intrusion of your rational mind–your inner critic, your editor, your judge. Those parts of you are helpful sometimes, but for this activity they can only interfere with your heart. I will explain further below. However, the New Year’s Vision Board is a different animal than the plain ol’ Vision Board in that we all come into the experience with desires, plans and intentions for the new year. Don’t ignore these but rather use them as a large framework. For example, this year as I approach my new year, I personally have a few things I’d like to work on: I’d like to be free of PMS which has been a long-time companion (by the way, I welcome your suggestions for this…please! Has anything helped you?) Also, in 2015 I am attracting mountains of cash! Ha! I’m not kidding. You have to be really clear about your intentions, because generally we manifest what we ask for. Last year, my New Year’s resolution/Vision Prayer Flag was abundance.  Well, let me tell you I had one of the most ABUNDANT years of life last year…but I’m thinking I wasn’t quite clear enough in my wording. By abundant, dear Universe, I actually mean abundance of financial resources…let me be more clear here: I mean I want my book to sell a million copies. Wait, I think I can be more clear: I would like to have a vault like Harry Potter’s in Gringott’s Bank filled with heaps of gold coins and enough resources to amply provide for my family this year and every year after. OK. That’s better.

So, do be aware that what you put on your Vision Board or Vision Prayer Flag will happen. And it might not make sense until it does. Specificity matters.

As you approach your New Year’s Vision Board, be aware that you are likely bringing larger intentions and resolutions to the board and you can’t come to it completely empty. Don’t hang on too tightly to the stuff you are coming into the process with. Hold it lightly and know it is there but don’t barrel into the Vision Board making process knowing that you are going to make one giant collage full of say, happy hormones and bags of cash! If you hold too tightly to these intentions they will prevent you from finding the magic that is inherent in this process. And the process is simple: while you look for images you will ONLY listen to your heart. Period. It is all explained below.

Now I am going to attach below the actual pages from my book so you have a clear guide as to how to create your Vision Board and what to do. In case you missed the last post, you can see a Materials List here. If you choose to make the Vision Prayer Flags instead, use the ideas outlined below but you will be drawing your images in fabric marker or cutting them out from fabric scraps and using a glue stick to glue them down. Once the appliqués are dry, machine or hand stitch them in place. Also, use an iron to heat set the fabric marker ink. Once all the flags are complete, simply stitch them onto the twill tape or ribbon with a zig zag stitch (leaving at least a few feet at each end for hanging) and hang them up outside!

If you are making Vision Boards or Flags with your family, keep the emphasis on fun, creativity and meaning. Even young children can feel the playful sacredness of these creations. They may include ice cream, hearts, candy, race cars, unicorns, peace signs, Minions, and all manner of cartoon characters…and that is OK! Let them express whatever is in their heart even if it is silly or makes no sense. If they grow up in an environment where they are used to this sort of meaningful creativity and connection they will be more apt to truly express themselves in a more serious way as they get older.

So here are the actual pages from my book below:

Finally, I will add that you may quickly feel your inner editor, judge and critic popping up to say hello. Your gut will want you to rip out a picture but your mind will say, “whoa nellie…not so fast…why are you grabbing that image?!” You will need to work at first to stay with your gut (heart) and away from the critic/editor. My rule of thumb as I make Vision Boards is to rip every image that feels good. Many of them won’t even make the final cut and get glued down to the board but it is easier to just rip out and have it than to wish in 45 minutes that you knew where that one picture of the woman at the flower shop in Italy went.

OK. You’re ready now. Off you go. Have fun. Listen to your heart and please send me pictures of your board or flags. I will even post some of the photos you send me (without your name, of course). Comment below about how the experience was for you. I’d love to hear.