Vision

Every year Andy and I make a "vision board" for our family. We have done this for about 5 years now and have included the kids (when they are willing). It has become a wonderful tradition and a time for us to gain clarity and focus for what we truly desire for our new year. We usually do this on New Year's Day, it is a fun and interesting activity that keeps us busy and focused for a couple of hours.

This year, we delayed it a bit since we were in Arizona on the 1st, but last weekend we sat down to work on it. When we first started, we just used poster board and stuck it up on the wall when we were done, but a few years back we bought a big frame and made sure that it was hung in a place that we would look at it often. It hangs in our hallway near all of the bedrooms. On the day of the project, we gather up the board, glue sticks and some scissors and then we grab a stack of magazines and start tearing our pictures and words and letters that seem to call to us.

Sometimes we already know what we desire for the year, like when we hoped to get pregnant and found pics of babies. Sometimes a photo just catches our eye and we put it on, like the year we found a photo of a beautiful house and blueprints and slapped it on there, not really knowing what it meant. That was the year that we bought our house...we hadn't expected it, we hadn't planned it, it just happened! After that, we have really come to believe in the power of this board and this process. We choose carefully and thoughtfully before placing any thing on the board. Last year, I put a roll of toilet paper to indicate my desire to have Gavin learn to wipe himself and Ella to be potty trained...well, Gavin did and Ella is also handling all of the aspects of pottying all by herself. I am a free woman, no more bums to wipe and all because of a roll of t.p. on my vision board! (Well, I know that it is more than that, it is the intention that has been set and carried through by looking at the board and working towards it!) We also place a photo of our family right in the middle so that we are sure to "claim" these things for our lives.

This year is one of many unknowns for us. Andy has been working under a grant and it is up this year. He does not know if it will be renewed, he does not know where he will be working or in what capacity. He has tenure, so he will have a job and at the same pay, but other than that..big question mark. I am going back to school and applying for a Teaching Fellowship. I don't know if I will be continuing at the church where I currently work, or working as an intern, or...another question. We actually found a big question mark and put it on the board, just to remind ourselves to be o.k. with the not knowing. There are also nuts, to remind me to embrace the nuttiness of family life and enjoy it. Other things on there are the picture of a motorhome that Gavin chose because he wants to go camping, and the Dora the Explorer that Ella pasted on because she want to go on an adventure. We have pictures of flowers, and lots of words and we always put a picture of a key. The key, is to remind us to discover our "key" for the year, what unlocks our joy...the key to our happiness, so to speak.

We love this tradition and know that we will continue with it for years to come. It is not only about tearing out pictures and putting them on a board, but it is a time for our family to connect and to focus and to learn what is important to each of us. Andy and I use it as a time to plan what projects we will take on and where we would like to go on vacation. It really helps us to figure out what our focus is for the year and sometimes we learn something new about each other. No matter what though, we always feel closer and more connected when we are finished. Now THAT is a way to start any year.