Who could deny that face?!
I got over there about mid-afternoon, took Frances on an hour-long walk, watched a movie on TV, read my book, and, come to find out, still had six hours to kill before bedtime. Six hours by myself. Nothing on TV could hold my interest. I couldn't get comfortable when reading my book. I got bored flipping through magazines. I'd already walked Frances into the ground, so I didn't want to go outside. I was so restless! Ugh!
I've never liked being alone, and I'm starting to think it's because I think too much by myself. And I don't like being alone with my thoughts, because I start nit-picking and analyzing things and then getting down on myself about beating a dead horse. So yeah...no good.
Welp, there I was at my parents' house, ALONE, reading an article in Oprah magazine about vision boards, or collages of pictures and phrases that reflect where you want to go in your life and who you want to be. Not pictures of a mansion or a man with the body of a brick house, but rather pictures of a hot air balloon lifting off or a group of people feeding needy children in a third-world country. THOSE types of pictures. And phrases like "Do something strange and extravagant" or "Don't Put Off Your Happy Life." Pictures and phrases that inspire you and make you feel like the biggest version of yourself--the version capable of anything you put your mind to.
(This is where the vision board idea takes off (look at me keeping with the hot air balloon image!))...
The idea is that having such images and phrases in front of you will implant them into your imagination / subconscious and, in turn, affect your reality. This is very similar to my masters thesis, by the way, which was about how language enters your mind (through conversation, books, TV, street signs, etc, etc) and sticks. You then use that language to make thoughts, which follows that the language you hold within you somewhat determines the way you think and the way you see reality. Therefore, language affects reality. But, in this case, we're talking about language AND images, COMBINED. By implanting certain phrases and images into our minds, we can change the course of our thinking, and so create our own perfect world. Pretty cool idea, right? Totally.
And so there I sat on my parents' couch, reading this vision board article, remembering a recent conversation I had with my mother-in-law. I was telling her about my worsening allergies and my painful (and bloody) visit with the dentist. She let me rant myself quiet before she offered her advice. She told me that it might behoove me to envision positive outcomes with my health troubles. She told me to imagine myself smiling, my teeth and gums healthier than ever. She told me to imagine myself in a room full of pets, laughing and breathing easy.
It's so easy to focus on the negatives sometimes, isn't it? It's easy to complain and it's easy to get caught up in our own stuff. I mean, there I was, unable to sit still with the present moment, reading about these vision boards and "creating my own reality," terribly uncomfortable all alone by myself, looking forward to the next night when I'd be able to go to bed with my husband again, and thinking about my mother-in-law's positive advice.
In one overwhelming moment, all those things came together. It's like all my many feelings met up with the multiple perspectives I'd been reading and hearing and coalesced into this wider view, called oh, I dunno, the big picture? I was in the middle of something huge. The realization that I. CAN. CREATE. MY. OWN. WORLD.
What the hell did I have to feel restless about? If I felt restless at all, it was only because I was wasting time not creating my own reality! A reality that includes the kind of happiness that makes you feel light, like your feet could lift off the ground at any moment. A life of creating and building with my hands, both artsy-craftsy and help-the-world-y. Images of family and love. Words about working hard and happiness.
To quote Hallmark, "Every moment is a gift. That's why we call it the present."
What do you say, we all go make a vision board for ourselves so that our "present" is exactly the one we hoped for :)
What's on your vision board?
It's funny. You say you don't like to be alone because you think too much when you're alone. I don't like to be idle for the same reason so at all times I have to be doing several things at once. Thoughts are scary! But you are totally right...why not take advantage and create instead of panic! I like this. Instead of letting my mind float to the worries, I vow to write stories in my head instead. I love your optimism!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a GREAT topic for another blog carnival sometime soon -- a vision board. What fun! This is the type of thing that lead me to photographic journalism in college. :) I love it.
ReplyDeleteEA: i TRY to be optimistic, haha! nothin' like pep-talking myself, right?!
ReplyDeleteEY: we should TOTALLY use the vision board as a blog carnival topic! done and done :) and wowsa, how cool does "photographic journalism" sound?!
This is an awesome post! Loved the pics with it. Your thesis sounds so interesting, and very true. What a cool thing to write about. I firmly believe that our thoughts create our reality. What we believe to be true colors our perceptions in so many ways.
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